August 22, 2009 • 6:01 am 0
An article stating the need to protect biometric data appeared in the IEEE spectrum magazine. Not a lot of new information, a good summary of the threats as biometrics are being used more and more as authenticators.
Filed under: Authentication, Encryption, Security, biometrics, in the News , Authentication, biometrics, Encryption, Security
August 18, 2009 • 9:06 pm 0
It looks like Canadian laws are finally forcing Facebook to play nice with their users’ personal information.
read the whole article http://www.financialpost.com/news-sectors/technology/story.html?id=1902992
Filed under: InSecurity, Technology, in the News
August 7, 2009 • 3:36 am 1
Having all your personal information in one ID is not a very good idea, even if protected by a good encryption scheme. Having all your information in a card protected with a bad encryption scheme is definitely a bad idea.
That seems to be the case with the ID cards issued by the Home Office to foreign nationals working in the UK. As described in a news article, it looks that a cell phone fitted with an RFID scanner and a laptop is all the hardware you need to clone one of these cards and even change the information on it.
Embedded inside the card for foreigners is a microchip with the details of its bearer held in electronic form: name, date of birth, physical characteristics, fingerprints and so on, together with other information such as immigration status and whether the holder is entitled to State benefits.
This chip is the vital security measure that, so the Government believes, will make identity cards ‘unforgeable’.
But as I watch, Laurie picks up a mobile phone and, using just the handset and a laptop computer, electronically copies the ID card microchip and all its information in a matter of minutes.
He then creates a cloned card, and with a little help from another technology expert, he changes all the information the card contains – the physical details of the bearer, name, fingerprints and so on. And he doesn’t stop there.
These cards use the same technology as the ID card for British citizens unveiled last week by Alan Johnson, the Home Secretary. ID thieves must be anxiously waiting for the introduction of government ID cards, which will facilitate their daily jobs.
Filed under: Hacking, ID Theft, InSecurity, RFID, biometrics, in the News , ID Theft, in the News, InSecurity, RFID, Technology
Data Security and Information Theory are essential to modern life. Far from being the exclusive domain of academics and geeks, the fundamentals and its application are easy to understand for most people. Here, my modest attempt to bring some of the issues to the public discourse and spread the knowledge to make the internet a safer place for your virtual self.
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