SkyeTek Adding Security Support into Passive Platforms

However, the EPC UHF Gen 2 protocol does support more memory than Gen 2 chipmakers have built into the chip to date, and SkyeTek says it has spoken with Gen 2 silicon providers who, according to Martin Payne, SkyeTek's vice president of marketing and strategy, "have indicated that extended memory is in their plans to provide functionality such as encryption."

To license the ReaderWare software, customers must first either purchase one of the reader modules or license the reference design to create their own.

Rob Balgley, SkyeTek's CEO, says that by building data encryption and hashing support into its RFID platform, the company is putting RFID "on par with banking services and Internet-based security." Furthermore, he adds, by offering it as a non-proprietary platform his company is able to make the software less expensive for OEMs and other RFID systems designers or integrators to add data security to their products. This should make deploying secure RFID systems more affordable to end users, as well.

Companies such as Philips and Texas Instruments already offer RFID data encryption, but their systems are proprietary and require the use of tags made with Philips or TI chips. SkyeTek estimates that its OEMs and other customers can embed data security into their offerings using SkyeTek's platform at a savings of 70 percent by using generic tags rather than proprietary ones. "Potentially," says Balgley, the Pfizers and the Wal-Marts of the world could save money [on secure RFID systems] if their OEMs use the SkyeTek format."

Industry analysts and pundits have been calling attention to the need for greater data security for passive RFID systems. At data security specialists RSA Security's annual conference this year, Adi Shamir, one of the company's founders, raised concerns over the data security—or lack thereof—for passive UHF tags by announcing that he and a colleague had easily determined the password needed to kill a EPC Class 1 Gen 1 UHF passive tag. Shamir and his partner indicated they might also be able to use a similar hacking method on more advanced generations of the protocol, such as EPC Class 1 Gen 2 (see EPC Tags Subject to Phone Attacks).

SkyeTek reports that it will begin shipping the M2 HF interrogator module with ReaderWare in July.