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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[...] The RFID tag is supposed to identify things uniquely, but now two techies at the HOPE (Hackers on Planet Earth) convention claim to have been able to “clone” one. What are the potential implications for the future of a system which is supposed to identify things uniquely if it can be copied? One of the people making the claim is tech writer Annalee Newitz. Read her POV at her blog. Here, Reuters includes a statement from Verichip, the makers of the RFID tag. [...]
- Posted by the sniffer: foursevens network » Blog Archive » high tech footprints: who knows where you are?[...] Ormai si copia di tutto. Cos’è rimasto ancora di inviolato? Durante una dimostrazione a New York, due hacker/ricercatori, Annalee Newitz e Jonathan Westhues, hanno sbeffeggiato la Verichip Corp., dimostrando come sia possibile clonare un chip RFID impiantato nel corpo umano, cosa finora ritenuta impossibile. Con un banale pc e un lettore RFID, sono riusciti a replicare l’ID del chip inserito nel braccio destro di uno dei due (!). Ovviamente un duro colpo per l’azienda. I responsabili di Verichip si sono trincerati dietro un no comment struzzesco, non prima però di aver regalato questa precisazione: Its very difficult to steal a VeriChip it s much more secure than anything youd carry around in your wallet [...]
- Posted by hostinato » Nel braccio è clonabile…dove lo impiantiamo ora?[...] High-tech cloning [...]
- Posted by »[...] 6 - Arphids cloned by haXx0rz - live on stage Does what it says on the tin. ‘No more identity theft’, my arse. (tags: technology surveillance theft identity security VeriChip conference HOPE cloning hacking arphid RFID) [...]
- Posted by Velcro City Tourist Board » Blog Archive » Links for 26-07-2006[...] Hackers clone RFID from human [...]
- Posted by andreas04: close to attraction[...] Annalee Newitz and Jonathan Westhues demonstrated how easy it is to clone an implanted RFID chip at the HOPE number 6 Conference in New York last week. Newitz had a VeriChip RFID chip implanted in her arm and Westhues read the tag’s unique ID with a portable reader hooked up to his laptop, which recorded the ID. It’s easy to program a new tag with that unique ID, effectively cloning the original tag. See this Reuters article for more information. [...]
- Posted by Hackers demo cloning implanted RFID chip[...] No comment! Just read the article: http://blogs.reuters.com/2006/07/22/high -tech-cloning/ [...]
- Posted by MySecured.com · Human Implanted RFID Cloned?[...] Sending in the clones VeriChip more or less mum Contends it’s secureread more | digg story « AMD Throws Out Quad-Core Challenge To Intel [...]
- Posted by Haiku Headlines | Headlines of Today. In 17 syllables. What more do you need? » Blog Archive » Hackers CLONE Human-implanted RFID chip in Minutes at ConferenceWhy are we putting microchips in people in the first place???? Security? Give me a break!
- Posted by VIdentity theft: implanted RFID’s “unique ID” cloned…
From “High-tech cloning,” by Nic Fulton, Reuters Newsblog, 22 July © Reuters:
“…at a conference in New York City… two presenters demonstrated the electronic equivalent of making a copy of an implanted RFID or radio frequency ID chip. The poin…
- Posted by openspectrum.info[...] SOURCE: Reuters [...]
- Posted by Freedom Is Slaveryhttp://digg.com/security/Hackers_CLONE_H uman_implanted_RFID_chip_in_Minutes_at_C onference
added you to digg - made the front page with about 1000 Diggs
- Posted by Search Engine WEBOk, let me be a sexist pig for just this once. But Annalee is hot. Ok, I like the nerdy types, but holeee, she is really hot and has a PhD to boot.
What was she writing about? RFID, chips…? I can’t remember. But I remember she is !!!HOT!!!.
- Posted by tim stevensI supppose I’d notice the theft of an rfid, since it’d require an incision in my arm or whatever, since I don’t store my wallet inside my skin. Thank God for the security, VeriChip!
- Posted by ronRfid has been being hacked for a long time, even at the 5th Hope it was demo’ed just not one of the “implanted” chips, but essentialy they all work on the same principle. I hate to break it to Mr. Procter but Its very difficult to steal a VeriChip it s much more secure than anything youd carry around in your wallet, Id much rather have somone steal my wallet, and I am aware it was stolen.
However if some guy “bumps” into me on the subway, with a specal IC designed specificly to read and steal my id, and replicate it elsewhere, while im none the wiser. I dont think so…
It may be impossible to steal the physical object, but if all somone has to do is get close to you to read it and later go make another one that functions exatly the same way… I really hope this isnt a payment system…
Oh and for those interested that new mastercard tap and go thing works on rfid and can also be duplicated… Request a card without it!!
- Posted by JarrodProcter, you my good sir, is an imbecil.
- Posted by Flemming Kold[...] Reuters is reporting that the “secure” RFID chip designed to identify a human has been easily cloned. The chip maker denies being able to verify the results of the demonstration. Why anyone would voluntarily accept an implant like this is beyond my comprehension, secure or not. [...]
- Posted by nedatanet » Human Implanted RFID Chip Cloned[...] The regular news media has been picking up some stories from HOPE6. One was posted about how two people managed to steal and clone a Verichip. More in the Washington Post here and here. Also in the news today was an article touting my favorite summer camp ever, CTY, in Slate. [...]
- Posted by In the news at dan foo![...] There are supposedly plenty of hams at this weekend’s HOPE (Hackers on Planet Earth) conference at the Hotel Pennsylvania in New York City. In fact, special event station N6H is on the air, operating from the conference. The conference attracts hackers, tweakers, phone phreakers and the curious. For instance, two presenters demonstrated the electronic equivalent of making a copy of an implanted RFID or radio frequency ID chip manufactured by VeriChip Corp., a subsidiary of Applied Digital. This is the first time someone has cloned an human-implanted RFID chip, presenter Jaonathan Newitz said. Their Web site claims that it cannot be counterfeited that is something that Jonathan and I have shown to be untrue, according to his co-presenter Annalee Newitz. Yet another presenter was arrested yesterday by FBI agents, just moments before he was to lead a panel discussion on privacy. The conference wraps up today. [...]
- Posted by KKØHF » Blog Archive » Hackers of the World UniteAs an Ex-Hacker myself I have been only waiting for this. Veri-Chip has only convinced themeselves, as Hackers we’d be able to figure out how to copy someones RFID so we could use that to and advantage.
FBI and the other agencys have figured it out by now, your not going to stop a determined hacker. The’ll be able to disguise as others when they get deep enough into it, just by ripping RFID infomation!
- Posted by Nipahc