Biz travelers howl over US gov RFIDs
Anonymous Coward
Testing RFIDs #
Posted Tuesday 2nd December 2008 00:06 GMT

How long and at what power setting would one need to cook an RFID chip in a microwave to exceed non-destructive testing limits?
Just curious....
EvilJason
All i got to say is..... #
Posted Tuesday 2nd December 2008 00:06 GMT

Hahahahahahahahahahahaha.....hahaha
So in order to get into or out of the freedom loving Democratic republic of the united states of America you have to show your government issued papers or else you get taken to a secure location without access to a legal representation lol
When did america become communist?
Everything Americans fear from communism has happened over of the last few years in there country.
I cant really think of anything else to say other than hahahahahaha in soviet America you do not become communist, communist becomes you.
Sorry for the laughter but the irony is to much.
-J
Graham Marsden
In Mumbai... #
Posted Tuesday 2nd December 2008 00:06 GMT

... I have to wonder whether the terrorists who went around looking for people with "American or British Passports" would be in favour of this technology...
Anonymous Coward
Isn't it the cards that should worry us? #
Posted Tuesday 2nd December 2008 00:06 GMT
The long range scanners just confirm the RFID cards are a privacy risk. It's not the scanners at airports we need to worry about, this just proves privacy conscious people were right to worry about the cards themselves.
Matthew
typical #
Posted Tuesday 2nd December 2008 00:06 GMT

All these untried, unproven "security" measures just make it easier for anyone with technical know-how to get into countries that it was previously.
Anonymous Coward
Papers, citizen #
Posted Tuesday 2nd December 2008 00:06 GMT

Oh, never mind...we already know who you are.....ha.ha.ha.ha
Thomas Kent
Mr. Faraday... #
Posted Tuesday 2nd December 2008 01:12 GMT

...hand me the tinfoil please!
(Covering an RFID with tinfoil in essence creates a Faraday cage around said RFID).
Mines the one with the tinfoil lining.
Anonymous Coward
Oh the ownage! #
Posted Tuesday 2nd December 2008 10:55 GMT

Land of the free*
Home of the brave*
* subject to Government scanning.
[Please hold your pass straight, citizen]
Tom
Faraday cage? #
Posted Tuesday 2nd December 2008 10:55 GMT
JC
Sad Day #
Posted Tuesday 2nd December 2008 10:55 GMT
... when those in power claim it's important to erode real freedoms in order to "protect" imaginary ones then attack if you don't agree.
RFID should never be imposed on anyone unless they ask for it, in which case they made a choice, freely.
Sillyfellow
foil lined wallet anyone? #
Posted Tuesday 2nd December 2008 10:55 GMT

anyone who starts selling foil lined anti-rfid wallets and handbags will have a flourishing business.
just a idea....
NB
am I too late? #
Posted Tuesday 2nd December 2008 10:55 GMT

First Godwin post!!
I invoke Godwins law. The US is turning into a naziesque police state.
Phew, hope no-one beat me to it.
druck
The new wall #
Posted Tuesday 2nd December 2008 10:55 GMT

When the Berlin wall came down we thought that democracy and freedom would spread eastwards, and indeed in most parts it has done. What we weren't expecting was the wall would be put back up in the west, with a virtual cloning of the invasive security and mass surveillance culture of the freedom hating former regimes of the east.
Ferry Boat
@Testing RFID AC #
Posted Tuesday 2nd December 2008 11:01 GMT
Yes, you can destroy them in a microwave. I've heard that about 10 seconds on full power will be plenty. However, RSA labs has a warning - http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/node.asp?id=2120#13
You could make yourself a shielding passport wallet though. Foil should do the job fine.
NRT
@AC 2049hrs #
Posted Tuesday 2nd December 2008 11:25 GMT
An old chip & pin bank card showed blistering on the surface after 3 seconds in a 650W microwave oven.
An RFID card with an arial would absorb more power so less than a second would probably kill the chip but someone would have to experiment to see when the card showed obvious signs of dammage.
Nick.
Anonymous Coward
Don't use a microwave #
Posted Tuesday 2nd December 2008 19:07 GMT

A microwave oven will leave burn marks on the card/passport/rectal plug/whatever.
Build a small electromagnetic pulse generator. All you need is a disposable camera and a coil - Google for instructions. These give a big enough pulse to sauté only the chip (or rather its RF bit), rather than crudely frying it along with whatever it's embedded in.
The only snag is that you need an RFID reader to make sure it's dead, but these can be had for £25 or so nowadays.
Anonymous Coward
@ NRT #
Posted Tuesday 2nd December 2008 19:07 GMT

Thanks, I will try it when I receive my new passport ;-)
Shane McCarrick
Re: Microwave #
Posted Wednesday 10th December 2008 23:25 GMT

Perhaps The Register could host a survey at a later date detailing people's experiences at Microwaving their passports- as to what the optimal power and length should be to reliably fry any RFID chips.
From preliminary tests I've done (I'm not due a new passport until 2012- but Dublin Bus have recently introduced an RFID ticketing system)- between 15 and 20 seconds on 600 watts, or under 10 seconds on 1000 watts should suffice. Then again- its far easier to replace my errr, defective, bus tickets than it is a passport.........
Caveat emptor......?
Adam Foxton
@Shane McCarrick #
Posted Monday 15th December 2008 13:06 GMT

For a start, it's probably illegal to deliberately tamper with your passport. So the gov't would clamp down on El Reg. I'd rather that didn't happen, so my vote's against them asking anyone to.
Doing it on some other, foreign-hosted, website would be fine enough though. But passports are useful and expensive, so people are unlikely to fry their own. I guess if anyone knows the whereabouts of those RFID passports that were nicked a few months ago you could ask them to spare a few...