...And My Bank Account Number Is

[OneHumpNotTwo]

If you have a new Passport it may be too late .I am not sure . YOU may be lucky.Maybe they are not in yet..They are coming.

RFID chips

RFID stands for "radio-frequency identification."

You should read the article by Bruce Schneier in the Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... tml?sub=AR

Bruce Schneier probably knows what he is writing about. He has written one of the standard texts on cryptography.

He says

Your passport information might be read without your knowledge or consent by a government trying to track your movements, a criminal trying to steal your identity or someone just curious about your citizenship.

At first the State Department belittled those risks, but in response to criticism from experts it has implemented some security features. Passports will come with a shielded cover, making it much harder to read the chip when the passport is closed.

The other security mechanisms are also vulnerable, and several security researchers have already discovered flaws. One found that he could identify individual chips via unique characteristics of the radio transmissions. Another successfully cloned a chip.

[EvotingMachine0197]

This is one of the most ridiculous press items I think I've ever read. Bruce Schneier may be a champion of cryptography, but his grounding in electronic hardware and magnetic field theory is dismal, to say the least.

This article is very misleading. Its paranoid and misrepresentative of the technology.

I'm with the State Dept. on this one.

[wizzard]

This is one of the most ridiculous press items I think I've ever read. Bruce Schneier may be a champion of cryptography, but his grounding in electronic hardware and magnetic field theory is dismal, to say the least.

This article is very misleading. Its paranoid and misrepresentative of the technology.

I'm with the State Dept. on this one.

no worries about e-voting either!

[forest]

this is the reason i refusse to travel to the USA

[Jacobin]

I love e-voting, its so easy for hackers to manipulate elections results. Some of the poll fanatics here would love that kind of stuff.

[EvotingMachine0197]

This is one of the most ridiculous press items I think I've ever read. Bruce Schneier may be a champion of cryptography, but his grounding in electronic hardware and magnetic field theory is dismal, to say the least.

This article is very misleading. Its paranoid and misrepresentative of the technology.

I'm with the State Dept. on this one.

no worries about e-voting either!

Hi Wizzard,
I dont tend to tar all technologies with the same brush. Neither do I automatically accept the opinions of publicised so-called experts/analysts. Especially Fox News.

I do tend to form my own opinions of each technology on its own merits.

There are lots of reasons whiy I think RFID is safe, the main one being the practicality of antenna requirements for RFID communications at distances more than 200mm.

[JCSkinner]

this is the reason i refusse to travel to the USA

Ditto.

[PinkoLeftie]

This is one of the most ridiculous press items I think I've ever read. Bruce Schneier may be a champion of cryptography, but his grounding in electronic hardware and magnetic field theory is dismal, to say the least.

This article is very misleading. Its paranoid and misrepresentative of the technology.

I'm with the State Dept. on this one.

Do you think that the details on an RFID passport can't be read by would-be scammers?

Digital Rights Ireland are concerned about these passports.

[EvotingMachine0197]

Do you think that the details on an RFID passport can't be read by would-be scammers?

Digital Rights Ireland are concerned about these passports.

Yes , of course it can be read, or rather, listened in on. But its encrypted. The encryption key is in the 'printed matter' on the passport.

Here's my questions:

Why would somebody want to sniff encrypted passport communications with an illegitimate receiver, only to find 30% of bits are incorrect, and even if all bits were correct, the data is triple DES encrypted, and the scammer doesent have the key.

Even if the scammer had the key, what use is the info. What is the scam in this scenario ? Guessing my name for 20 bucks?

How does a bloke with significant amounts of electronic equipment get to sit within 20 Meters of passport control for a reasonable amount of time go unnoticed?

[jonna]

If you have a new Passport it may be too late .I am not sure . YOU may be lucky.Maybe they are not in yet..They are coming.

RFID chips

RFID stands for "radio-frequency identification."

You should read the article by Bruce Schneier in the Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... tml?sub=AR

Bruce Schneier probably knows what he is writing about. He has written one of the standard texts on cryptography.

He says

Your passport information might be read without your knowledge or consent by a government trying to track your movements, a criminal trying to steal your identity or someone just curious about your citizenship.

At first the State Department belittled those risks, but in response to criticism from experts it has implemented some security features. Passports will come with a shielded cover, making it much harder to read the chip when the passport is closed.

We are watched on a daily basis with cameras in every corner.. I accept that this has positive aspects in solving crime..We can be traced through our pps number...We can be viewed by satelites....and now our passports will have chips in them..Though I think that it is probably a good idea in our present time, of terrorism etc...I can't help thinking of the Orwell book....I think that "Big brother" is here and privacy is a thing of the past.

jonna