RFID tag security fears may be unwarranted

German firm DN-Systems demonstrated a technique at the Defcon security conference that enabled its researchers to clone tags, which has the potential to compromise pallet security in supply chain environments, and is threatening to hold back the adoption of RFID technology. But Otto Kilb, strategic business development manager for EMEA at Printronix, says: “No technology is 100% secure, and it seems that RFID is the latest innovative technology to come under scrutiny from the security doom-mongers. I applaud the security firms for identifying these potential flaws, but that is all they are – potential flaws.” He makes the point that barcodes too have never been 100% secure. “The supply chain has faced such risks for years, but the business advantages RFID brings to the market far outweigh the risks.” And he adds that Gen 2 tags incorporate additional security protocols, including passwords that protect against counterfeiting, while security firms are also developing techniques to increase encryption methods to protect critical data. “This is only the tip of the ice-berg as additional tag security features are being developed continually,” insists Kilb. “So while there are risks there really isn’t any reason to panic. Take sensible precautions and your data should be safe.”