EPC RFID tag security weaknesses and defenses: passport cards, enhanced drivers licenses, and beyond

Authors:
Karl Koscher;Ari Juels;Vjekoslav Brajkovic;Tadayoshi Kohno
Affiliations:
University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA;RSA Laboratories, Cambridge, MA, USA;University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA;University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
Venue:
Proceedings of the 16th ACM conference on Computer and communications security
Year:
2009

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Abstract

EPC (Electronic Product Code) tags are industry-standard RFID devices poised to supplant optical barcodes in many applications. We explore the systemic risks and challenges created by the increasingly common use of EPC for security applications. As a central case study, we examine the recently issued United States Passport Card and Washington State "enhanced drivers license" (WA EDL), both of which incorporate Gen-2 EPC tags. We measure multiple weaknesses, including susceptibility to cloning, extended read ranges, and the ability to remotely kill a WA EDL. We study the implications of these vulnerabilities to overall system security, and offer suggestions for improvement. We demonstrate anti-cloning techniques for off-the-shelf EPC tags, overcoming practical challenges in a previous proposal to co-opt the EPC "kill" command to achieve tag authentication. Our paper fills a vacuum of experimentally grounded evaluation of and guidance for security applications for EPC tags not just in identity documents, but more broadly in the authentication of objects and people.