First up in session was Ravi Pappu from ThingMagic talking about security and
privacy in the EPC network. The first that needs to be made is that the EPC
network is going to be some SCARY SHIT. I don’t mean to swear, but if
Christian fundamentalists thought the UPC was the mark of the beast then EPC is
the antichrist. Essentially everything is linked through this global network
to track down EXACTLY what product a particular EPC code relates to. A very
good point is that the benefits of this system have yet to be clearly
articulated. There isn’t a reason of yet of why consumers should like this
stuff. After that he went into various threats to privacy resulting from RFID.
The most interesting of which were the constellation effect where all your RFID
tags create a shadow around you making you easy to track. Also is the
possibility that transactions amongst individuals would be trackable. I’d
imagine this would be the RIAA/MPAA’s dream as they could track the second hand
market and shut it down.
Then came what was the coolest piece of technology at the show, the blocker tag
from Ari Juels of RSA Security. Due to the way that RFID
is structured there can obviously be contention amongst devices when a reader
is present. Basically what the blocker does is stop playing nice and always
say yes. In this respect it says it is both a rutabega, a 12 pack of gilette
razors and a roll of toilet paper at the same. This makes it impossible to use
readers when you’re around one of these. However, this isn’t playing nice and
we need to respect some standards (otherwise I’d already own a cell phone
blocker and turn it on during meetings). Thus there is the proposal to create
a privacy space in RFID. So when you purchase a device a bit is flipped to
move the device from the normal space to the privacy space where the blocker
will block requesting it. However, the blocker is still theoretical and has
not yet been built, leading to two problems. First, it might not work in which
case there is need to find a new solution. The second is that it might work in
which case it would be outlawed by the government. Fortunately for us there is
a solution, line a bag with tinfoil and that should keep those nasty signals
out and away from the stuff in the bag. Now the RFID chip embedded inyour
sandal is another story.
