Your pet can be infected by a computer virus!
15 March 2006
Researchers of the University of Amsterdam in The Netherlands have succeeded to successfully infect a RFID-chip (Radio Frequency Identification Device) with a computer virus.
In the near future, RFID chips will be commonly used in all kinds of appliances and documents and for all kind of purposes. They will be embedded in passports, luggage tags of airlines, electronic devices and they can be placed just under the skin of pets. Using RFID chips, it is easy to track and trace those items which have an RFID chip embedded or to retrieve information automatically. A perfect technology if your pet again has been wandering off and is lost. But besides serves very useful purposes, of course this makes the RFID technology also the "Big Brother is Watching" device of the future.
Up to now, the general conception was that the memory capacity of RFID chips was too limited to infect it. This now has been proven wrong by researchers. Promo Venda Melanie Rieback and prof. Dr. Andrew Tanenbaum have found a way to infect RFID chips with a computer virus. Funny enough this means that not only your luggage, but also your pet may become infected with a computer virus.
The researchers present their findings at the Fourth Annual IEEE International Conference on Pervasive Computing and Communications (PerCom) in Pisa on 15 March. Being true researchers, they also present possible counter-measurements and they urge the RFID manufacturers to verify their RFID-systems and security protocols.
The paper from the researchers is available here (PDF format, opens in a separate browser window).
During a press conference on the big European data exhibition Cebit, pros and cons of the RFID technology were presented by European commissioner for information society and media, Vivian Reding. In the future billions of objects may be connected to the Internet. According to Reding this represents huge possibilities, however there is a vital need to build a society-wide consensus on the future of RFID, and the need for credible safeguards to protect privacy.
Norman will monitor the development of RFID technology closely. At this moment no one is at risk from being infected
