credit Photo: Kim Zetter
Grunwald placed the passport on top of the RFID reader and within four seconds the data on the RFID chip embedded in the passport appeared on the screen in the Golden Reader Tool template. Here the data on the screen is sample data, not the real data embedded in the German passport shown in the picture.
credit Photo: Kim Zetter
Grunwald used his new European Union German passport to demonstrate how easy it is to read the data on the RFID chip. The reader shown here is an official border patrol reader that he purchased directly from the company that makes them.
credit Photo: Kim Zetter
New e-passports come with a metallic jacket to prevent someone from surreptitiously "skimming," or reading the data on the chip from afar. To allow authorities to read the data on the RFID passport chip, the passport owner must remove the document from the shield before passing it over the RFID reader.
credit Photo: Kim Zetter
Data retrieved from an RFID passport chip gets dumped into the Golden Reader Tool template where passport authorities can examine it. Here, Grunwald has typed in random data, and a photo was taken from the internet to show how the tool works.
credit Image: Courtesy of John Hering and Kevin Mahaffey of Flexilis
Two RFID researchers created a video showing how an RFID reader attached to an improvised explosive device could theoretically identify a U.S. citizen walking past the reader and set off a bomb. They haven’t yet tested the theory on a real U.S. passport since the documents have yet to be distributed. The still here shows an attack using a prototype passport with RFID chip placed in the pocket of the victim. As the chip passes the reader, the reader detonates an explosive device placed in the trash can.
