Don’t Put Too Much Faith in High-Tech Passports

Two European researchers have found a way to defeat the chips being placed in passports to eliminate fraud. It’s another reminder never to place blind faith in technology. 

Adam Laurie and Jeroen van Beek, at the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas, showed the Business Technology Blog how to capture and change information stored on chips included in new passports from many countries. The chips–based on a technology called RFID, for radio frequency identification–are intended to improve border security. Instead of just relying on the photograph and other information printed in a passport, such chips store a digital photograph of the traveler and more extensive personal information that a border official can match to what’s printed.  Read Here