RFID Journal Staff asked 9 years ago I am new to RFID, and your website has really helped me to get going. RFID Journal's FAQ has loads of value information; thanks for providing it. However, in that list, I did not see anything about the security of transmitted signals from tags. Are there any technologies today that can help to secure tag information?
—Jeevan
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Jeevan,
At this year's RFID Journal LIVE! conference and exhibition, NXP Semiconductors introduced its Ucode DNA RFID chip—a passive ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) chip based on the Electronic Product Code (EPC) protocol. NXP claims that it is the first company to provide cryptographic authentication. By using a dynamic password that changes with each read event, and by requiring the verification of each password from a server, the Ucode DNA chip is designed to prevent eavesdropping and tag cloning (see NXP Releases IC for Secure Encrypted UHF Reads).
In addition, there are two other options for encrypting data being transmitted from a tag to a reader. SecureRF has developed a lightweight encryption scheme (see SecureRF Creates New Encryption Method). And Near Field Communication (NFC) Type 4 tags have built-in encryption, as well as password-protected memory (see NFC—Not Just for Consumers Anymore).
—Mark Roberti, Founder and Editor, RFID Journal
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