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APRIL 12, 2002 11:00 EDT
BOSTON Mass., April 12,2002 -- There is growing interest and controversy surrounding radio frequency identification (RFID) chips that can be implanted into humans for the purpose of tracking and storing personal or medical information. One of the issues not yet raised in the current exploration of this topic has been that of security for these chips. Health records deserve better safeguarding than auto parts on an assembly line.
The implantable chip concept is an interesting application of RFID technology that uses radio waves for tracking objects via chips and scanners. Most RFID chips are fundamentally insecure, protected by rudimentary technology such as passwords. If implanted, these chips lack any sound means of preventing the compromise of sensitive information. If an unscrupulous person has a scanner and can crack a password--hardly a formidable task--he can access all of the information stored on a chip. No person would want anyone walking down the street with a scanner to know his or her medical history, but that could well be the case. For RFID to work in a human identification scenario, strong security is essential.
The emergence and adoption of RFID technology for inventory tracking in supply chain management has already created a new-age playground for fraudsters, counterfeiters and criminals. When the tracking environment transitions from one of manufacturing to personal identification, a requirement of strong security is critical to protecting the RFID transmission signals carrying personal information. RFID applications need to support a ``trusted environment'' by guaranteeing confidentiality, authentication, integrity and non-repudiation to ensure that RFID data transmissions are not intercepted, corrupted or replicated. Semiconductor manufacturers need to seek out powerful new security technologies to embed in their chips, thereby making their products more credible and attractive. Companies like Atmel and INSIDE are currently leading the way in that initiative.
NTRU, a Massachusetts-based cryptography provider, offers practical, powerful, small and cost-effective security for RFID. Its security is based on the most fundamental innovation in cryptography in 20 years. The company recently announced its RFID technology, called GenuID.
For more information, contact David Bowker at mailto:dbowker@schwartz-pr.com.
Military & Aerospace Electronics
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