RFID Essay

2383 Words5 Pages

Austin J. DeLaCruz INFS 3370 Dr. Anand S. Kunnathur Communications and Security Issues with RFID As you are well aware by now the world has become increasingly technology oriented. Every day we use technology in one way or another. Whether it be simply checking email or being able to turn our entire house on from the simple push of a button on our smart phone. Whether we like it or not, technology is there. One piece of technology that seems to be gaining attention and garnering more research is Radio Frequency Identification or RFID. Radio Frequency Identification is a form of wireless media where messaging and data are broadcast through the air. It is radio transmission that uses an RFID tag, RFID reader, and back-end system in order to communicate back and forth and requires no line of sight. As simple as it may sound, this technology has its fair share of complications and the security issues that have presented themselves are at the forefront of this expanding technology. As mentioned above the RFID system has three major components; the tag, the reader, and the back-end system. There are two types of RFID tags: active and passive. Active tags have a battery power source and therefore have a finite life. These tags are writable and readable. Passive tags on the other hand, are fairly simple. When they are in the proximity of a RFID reader, the tag begins to transmit data that it has stored in its memory. The radio transmission from the reader provides the power needed for the tag to function. (Paraschiv pg 10) The reader is composed of a frequency module, a control unit, and a control unit which helps it communicate with the tag through radio transmission. Readers can take various forms from mobile or portable d... ... middle of paper ... ...e. (Chin-Feng Journal pg 2) The debate on whether the increasing implementation of RFID is constantly going back and forth. As the technology has found its way into licenses and passports. The continuing theme of this, is that the RFID in various forms of identification will allow certain authorized individuals the ability to access information on a specific person and have resources such a criminal record, known aliases, or any other information that might protect against a security threat. Although the basic belief is that only having simple basic information stored on RFID tags is harmless, the truth is that even the most simplest of data can eventually become important. Tadayoshi Kohno thinks the security of information should be taken seriously, “Information and uses evolve over time and these things can reveal more than we initially expect.” (Naone, pg 73)

More about RFID Essay

Open Document