Monday, 07 August 2006
Security flawed in electronic passports
Contributed by Bill Faith

LAS VEGAS -- Electronic passports being introduced in the United States and other countries have a major vulnerability that allows criminals to clone embedded secret codes and enter countries illegally, a researcher warned.

A demonstration by German computer-security specialist Lukas Grunwald showed how personal information stored on the documents could be copied and transferred to another device.

It appeared to contradict assurances by officials in government and private industry that the electronic information stored in passports could not be duplicated.

"If there is an automatic inspection system, I can use this card to enter any country," Mr. Grunwald said, holding up a computer chip containing electronic information he had copied from his German passport.

[Read on.]

Contributed by Bill Faith on August 7, 2006 at 12:09 PM in Bill Faith, Web/Tech | Permalink

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