Updated with comment from VeriChip spokesman:
With the debate over genetic cloning in full swing, hackers could not have cared less at a conference in New York City, where two presenters demonstrated the electronic equivalent of making a copy of an implanted RFID or radio frequency ID chip.
The point was to show just how easy it is to fool a detection device that purports to uniquely identify any individual.
Annalee Newitz (left) and Jonathan Westhues (right) presented their experimentations at the HOPE Number 6 conference in New York City in front of a crowd of hackers, tweakers and phone phreakers.
“This is the first time someone has cloned an human-implanted RFID chip,” Newitz said. “Since I have been chipped Jonathan refers to me as an implanted pet.”
Newitz said she has an RFID chip implanted in her right arm manufactured by VeriChip Corp., a subsidiary of Applied Digital.
“Their Web site claims that it cannot be counterfeited — that is something that Jonathan and I have shown to be untrue.”
The pair demonstrated the cloning process: Westhues held a standard RFID reader against Newitz’s arm to register the chip’s unique identification number.
Next, Westhues used a home-built antenna connected to his laptop to read Newitz’s arm again and record the signal off her implanted chip.
Westhues then takes the standard RFID reader and waves it past his laptop’s antenna. The reader beeps, showing Newitz’s until then “unique” ID. “It actually has no security devices what-so-ever,” Newitz said of VeriChip’s claims that its RFID chips can not be counterfeited.
VeriChip spokesman John Procter said in a phone interview that he had read about Newitz and Westhues work, but the company had not been able to review the evidence. He had no specific comment regarding their “cloning” project.
“We can’t verify what they may or may not have done,” Procter said, adding that: “We haven’t seen any first-hand evidence other than what’s been reported in the media.”
“It’s very difficult to steal a VeriChip … it’ s much more secure than anything you’d carry around in your wallet,” he added.
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[...] “doing RFID using 13.56 and UHF” I assume you are aware they are suceptable to any number of problems. Any sort of man-in-the-middle security breach would allow anyone to leech any information being [...]
- Posted by ID Chips?! - Fires of Heaven Guild Message BoardO.K. lets go one level deeper. If these chips are able to hold our medical records and bank accounts, how is that info to be accessed?
- Posted by steenSimply getting a multi digit code to read out does not mean that anyone has penetrated the interior of the chip memory. I’m not convinced that a wall has been breached if indeed it does exist. I want to buy one of these readers and see for myself.
[...] around. The opinions about this subject are greatly divided. (need to know more about these chips http://blogs.reuters.com/2006/07/22/high -tech-cloning/ ) Recently Rihanna made a song about driving. I thought this song would fit nicely into my [...]
- Posted by Mobility « Wickedlycruel’s Weblog[...] Nightclubbing: Barcelona’s exclusive VIP Baja Beach Club embeds RFID chips into their patrons’ arms for admittance and to use as a debit account from which they can pay for drinks. Will this trend catch on in the states? Would Andy Warhol do it if he were still alive? Probably, and most likely. But, beware…Reuters reported last year that two hackers, Newitz and Westhues, showed that they could clone the RFID signal from a human implanted RFID chip. [...]
- Posted by Jesse’s Blog » Blog Archive » 15 Surprising Ways RFID Will Affect Your Life in 2007Concerning VeriChip: MonDex. Revelation 13. It must be “In The Name Of World Security.” Apparently, the greatest crime one can commit, is to withhold one’s financial data from the Feds. And it is specifically mentioned in Revelation 13, that no-one shall be allowed to BUY OR SELL without the Mark of the Beast. And, contrary to popular Bible translations, the original actually mentions that the Mark shall be carried IN the RIGHT HAND or the FOREHEAD. As far as could be found, MonDex and Verichip found these two places to be the best spots in the body to put the bugs. I guess now it is “Give me Liberty or Verichip me…”
- Posted by JacobI would hate to have any thigs I buy just be cloned like this.
- Posted by Used Car Parts GuyI do believe that the VeriChip they created was a successful clone regardless of what the VeriChip company claims. I find it quite ironic that society takes large steps with the advancements of technology and security, but with those discoveries comes advancements with the hackers technology and able to get into other’s personal security and privacy. While technology is one step ahead trying to secure, the hackers and the rest of people trying to use technology to their personal benefit is only a few baby steps behind.
- Posted by edenThe apparent release of searches made by hundreds of thousands of users is raising privacy concerns.
- Posted by shreddersIts very difficult to steal a VeriChip it s much more secure than anything youd carry around in your wallet,
He should tatoo his social security number on his arm, it would be much more difficult to steal than, uh, his wallet.
- Posted by Yet Another Arizona Computer Consultant[...] No comment! Just read the article: http://blogs.reuters.com/2006/07/22/high -tech-cloning/ New RSS Feeds Coming soon! [...]
- Posted by MySecured.com · Human Implanted RFID Cloned?[...] Also we can say this For some time we’ve been following the colorful past of RFID maker VeriChip, a company that promotes implanting RFID chips in humans for identification purposes. As if the stated goal of the company wasn’t disturbing enough, it has a history of lying to regulators and to the public about the nature of its devices, and how they would be used. Now, two researchers, presenting at a hacker conference, have demonstrated that the company’s chips can easily be cloned, essentially allowing an individual to assume another’s identity. Not surprisingly, this stands in contradiction to VeriChip’s claim that their products are impossible to counterfeit. In fact, the researchers claim that the company’s chips have no security mechanism whatsoever. For its part, VeriChip has responded saying it hasn’t reviewed the evidence, and that it’s still easier to steal someone’s ID out of a wallet than it is to gain information from a chip in someone’s arm. That may be true, but when your wallet is stolen, you can realize it quickly and alert the relevant authorities. How do you know when someone’s passed by you with a wireless scanner? If fingerprint identification can be defeated with Play-Doh, and someone can clone your embedded identity chip without you knowing it, there’s something to be said for old-fashioned, disposable ID systems. I should add that %keyword% microsoft’s Zune May Not Carry the Day (PC Magazine) PC Magazine - Analysts praise Microsoft’s early moves in the digital music player market, but warn that the company will have to work hard to overtake Apple’s iPod.Did you know that Magazine means a compartment in a camera in which rolls or cartridges of film are held for feeding through the exposure mechanism. Wow… I love this using this sun, Unisys sue South Korea’s Hynix (AP) AP - Sun Microsystems Inc. and Unisys Corp. have filed a U.S. lawsuit against South Korea’s Hynix Semiconductor Inc., apparently seeking damages related to a federal probe into price-fixing of memory chips, Hynix said Tuesday. [...]
- Posted by Bill Gates » VeriChip VeriEasy To Clone, Researchers Say[...] This is the first time someone has cloned an human-implanted RFID chip The pair demonstrated the cloning process: Westhues held a standard RFID reader against an arm to register the chip âs unique identification number. It actually has no security devices what-so-ever - VeriChipâs claims that its RFID chips can not be counterfitedread more | digg story [...]
- Posted by Security » Hackers CLONE Human-implanted RFID chip in Minutes at ConferenceRFID Blocking Wallets and passport cases avaliable at http://www.difrwear.com
- Posted by Mike[...] This is also common For some time we’ve been following the colorful past of RFID maker VeriChip, a company that promotes implanting RFID chips in humans for identification purposes. As if the stated goal of the company wasn’t disturbing enough, it has a history of lying to regulators and to the public about the nature of its devices, and how they would be used. Now, two researchers, presenting at a hacker conference, have demonstrated that the company’s chips can easily be cloned, essentially allowing an individual to assume another’s identity. Not surprisingly, this stands in contradiction to VeriChip’s claim that their products are impossible to counterfeit. In fact, the researchers claim that the company’s chips have no security mechanism whatsoever. For its part, VeriChip has responded saying it hasn’t reviewed the evidence, and that it’s still easier to steal someone’s ID out of a wallet than it is to gain information from a chip in someone’s arm. That may be true, but when your wallet is stolen, you can realize it quickly and alert the relevant authorities. How do you know when someone’s passed by you with a wireless scanner? If fingerprint identification can be defeated with Play-Doh, and someone can clone your embedded identity chip without you knowing it, there’s something to be said for old-fashioned, disposable ID systems. Clone - one that copies or closely resembles another, as in appearance or function: “filled with business-school clones in gray and blue suits” (Michael M. Thomas). I should add that aOL Search Data Reportedly Released (PC World) PC World - The apparent release of searches made by hundreds of thousands of users is raising privacy concerns. World - the earth with its inhabitants. This is pretty cool experts discuss wireless vulnerability (AP) [...]
- Posted by Bill Gates » VeriChip VeriEasy To Clone, Researchers Say[...] High-tech cloning - Reuters Newsblogs [...]
- Posted by Remix Resource » Archive » High-tech cloning