RFID systems: technology, risks, and security solutions

Contactless RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) technology is designed to identify and scan objects without the need for physical or visual contact. A simple RFID tag affixed to any object enables that object to reveal its ID and movements to any RFID reader in the vicinity. Of course, only active tags can respond to reader requests.

Its advantages as a replacement for barcodes are obvious to any company operating in the logistics sector. It enables faster inventory-taking in lorries, warehouses...

But it also helps to improve product traceability, to better combat counterfeiting and theft from warehouses, for example...

However, many other uses are promising, and could transform our society by automating certain tasks in our daily lives, by better adapting our environment to our personal needs...

This article looks at RFIDs from a technological angle, but also :

• the network architecture in which they operate;

• of the EPCGlobal standard;

• possible uses;

• the risks to our privacy;

• technological barriers to be overcome ;

• of today's recommended security solution families.