Essay On RFID Skicking

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Literature Review on Article 1
Evidence is showing that RFID skimming is a real threat to the privacy and security of credit cards and passports.
Not only is there a threat to using the information on the card to transact but there is also the threat of having your identity known. You are able to pick up a person’s name, expiration date of the card as well as the card number. Once the thief has access to your personal information they can falsely represent you when phoning up a credit or debit card company and can then enable a fraudulent (fake) transaction to take place because they will impersonate the true card holder.
There are mixed views about the true seriousness of the issue but there is agreement that the information on credit or debit cards (and for that matter passports) can be skimmed (electronically pick pocketed) and then used by the thief to buy things or to impersonate you. CBC investigations have proved that you can even read the information through the person’s wallet, pocket or handbag using the phones NCF antenna communication.
Studies have shown that there are ways and means of reading the information on the cards or passports. This can be done through a RFID scanner but also through an app that can be downloaded to a smart phone and easily accessible. With the app, you can read the information wirelessly which proves that you are at an even higher risk of advanced technology theft. According to the studies of David Skillicorn, the thief only has to be a few inches away in order to scan your card. Banks have stated that this is a huge financial risk.
Through a number of experiments, scientists have discovered that cards and passports can be protected by wrapping them up in tin foil. The aluminium will act...

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...FID scanners are inexpensive to manufacture and easy to organise. Not only can RFID scanners read credit cards but also passports.
Studies have shown that e-passports have fixed RFID chips which carry private and personal details. If the passport is scanned, the hacker is able to get a clear photograph of you as well as your signature. Research has proven that anything containing an RFID chip is a ‘key target’ for the hacker or thief to gain private information, they are susceptible to skimming.
Recent evidence has shown that the scanner is not able to read the data carried on your card or passport through a metal cover. The metal (aluminium tin foil for example) will block and interfere with the signal of the scanner. US passports are ahead on this threat and already have a metal layer covering the passports but UK and South African passports do not have a cover.

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