RFID passports 'cloned within five minutes'

TUV News
Dec. 19, 2006

New passports using radio frequency identification (RFID) chips to hold personal data can be cloned in less than five minutes, it has been claimed.

Two technology consultants have discovered that ePassports can be cloned using internet-bought software and put the owner "more at risk" from identity thieves, according to the BBC.

RFID chips on ePassports contain information about the owner via radio signals which can be read from a short distance.

However, Lukas Grunwald and Christian Bottger bought an RFID reader on eBay and developed software that provides a blank chip for the cloned details to be copied onto.

And the cloned passport behaves no differently to the original when tested, giving rise to the pair's claims that ePassports may not be as secure as originally believed.

"Nearly every country issuing this passport has a few security experts who are yelling out…'This is not secure. This is not a good idea to use this technology'," said Mr Grunwald.

Earlier this month, Adam Laurie, a computer security expert analogised the ePassports' technology as like "installing a solid steel front door to your house and then putting the key under the mat".

TUV Product Service, part of the TÜV SÜD Group of companies with 1bn Euros turnover, in excess of 9,500 employees and 500 locations worldwide, is a leading producer of Compliance and Assurance Solutions for the RFID sector.