Ways to Blow up Identity Card’s RFID Chips
In October, the U.S. State Department began issuing biometric "ePassports" that contain a radio frequency identification tag under the back cover. The tiny chip holds the usual passport data, including a digital photo. The motive behind adding the chips is ostensibly good: to combat counterfeiting and illegal immigration. However the good intention of big brother omnipresence backlash faster than a crack whip. A German hacker quickly found a way to crack the encryption. With a laptop and a chip reader he bought for $200, he was able to steal data from an encrypted RFID tag, potentially allowing him to clone an ePassport.