RFID passport article in the UK's "Guardian" newspaper...

At 09:41 PM 11/19/2006, Marcos el Ruptor wrote:
>>Nothing deeply new here, but interesting anyway...
>>
>>http://www.
guardian.co.uk/idcards/story/0,,1950226,00.html
>>
>>Perry
>
>Yes, a very interesting article. I hope people upstairs
will begin to listen
>sooner rather than later...
>
>I must repeat myself, but there is a solution already:
VEST
>(http://en.wikipedia
.org/wiki/VEST), a cipher/MAC/hash that is
>specifically designed by Sean O'Neil to be as fast [and
small] as possible
>in hardware while being as slow as possible in software.
It is physically
>impossible to optimize even the smallest of VEST ciphers
to be less than
>1000 times slower in software than it is in ASIC. Not
even with Intel
>pipelining. What it means is that ASIC based RFID and
smartcard microchips
>become physically impossible to clone without the use of
specifically
>manufactured ASIC microchips that would cost at least
$1mln. Any
>reprogrammable chip (FPGA, eFPGA, ProASIC3 etc.) must
carry the programming
>logic and would have to be at least 5x5 mm in size and
would never pass as a
>clone. Even a low-end 1MHz RFID chip would require at
least 1GHz software
>smartcard to emulate it. With the maximum 66MHz that
exists today, we can
>sleep peacefully for much longer than those chips would
last.

Assume that smartcard based passports will be used in the
same way the 
current variety are, that is swiped in or placed near a
contact or 
contact-less reader by the immigration officer within a
meter or so of the 
passport presenter.  Why not create a relay chip that
provides all of the 
expected interfaces to the reader but also uses a wireless
link to a pocket 
ASIC carried by the passport presenter or someone else
nearby with the 
necessary computational power.  I suspect such a relay chip
would be much 
cheaper to design and manufacture than the real smartcard
chip.  Could be 
really useful for other apps as well, I suspect.

Steve 

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On 20 Nov 2006, at 9:46 PM, Steve Schear wrote:

> Assume that smartcard based passports will be used in
the same way  
> the current variety are, that is swiped in or placed
near a contact  
> or contact-less reader by the immigration officer
within a meter or  
> so of the passport presenter.  Why not create a relay
chip that  
> provides all of the expected interfaces to the reader
but also uses  
> a wireless link to a pocket ASIC carried by the
passport presenter  
> or someone else nearby with the necessary computational
power.  I  
> suspect such a relay chip would be much cheaper to
design and  
> manufacture than the real smartcard chip.  Could be
really useful  
> for other apps as well, I suspect.

I think that all this is just more reason that they should
do what I  
suggested ages ago -- 2D barcodes. Two facing pages in the
passport  
could be easily scanned, and would have plenty of
information. it's  
not sexy, but it would work. It also wouldn't have the
inherent  
misfeature of being able to be read from a distance through
someone's  
pocket. That would mean it could even be plaintext.

	Jon

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