27-09-06 18:24
Age: 2 yrs

BY: JANTSCHER, MANFRED; COLE, PETER

Although information technology security or cryptography generally is a well established area in computer science this is not true for RFID. With the upcoming large-scale introduction of RFID in the supply chain a number of security and privacy concerns arise. Among them are the traceability of tags without knowledge of their owner, and the ability to clone tags allowing persons to create tags for counterfeits. The possibility to securely authenticate readers and tags would solve a majority of the threats. However, obstacles like very restricted operating power and the requirement to keep tags as cheap as possible and therefore save silicon area impede a straightforward implementation of most of the known cryptographic primitives. There arises a demand for new, lightweight cryptographic primitives that offer security services tailored to the requirements of RFID systems while considering their resource constraints. This paper first presents a comprehensive overview of state-of-the-art cryptography, followed by a discussion of privacy and security threats in RFID, and includes a research survey of works conducted in this area. As the title of this paper suggests this paper is a primer, and provides such information that can assist other researchers in developing security mechanisms, suitable for inclusion on low cost RFID tags, such as lightweight cryptographic techniques, or one-time codes, to protect the supply chain against illicit trade. If such RFID devices become available and are deployed as anti-counterfeiting solutions, hopefully they will economically secure future supply chains.

This paper is to appear in the book:
Networked RFID Systems and Lightweight Cryptography
Raising Barriers to Product Counterfeiting
Cole, Peter H.; Ranasinghe, Damith C. (Eds.)
2007, Approx. 360 p., Hardcover
ISBN: 978-3-540-71640-2
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