RFID Vulnerability Study: Risks in Wireless Car Keys and Payment Devices

A vulnerability in radio-frequency ID chips could put millions of users of wireless car key tags or speed pass payment devices at risk, according to a recent study by researchers at Johns Hopkins University and RSA Laboratories. Using a relatively simple electronic device, criminals could wirelessly probe a car key tag or payment tag and then use the information obtained from the probe to crack the cryptographic key on the tag, Ari Juels, principal research scientist at RSA, explained.

In obtaining this key, an individual could circumvent the auto-theft prevention system in a person's car or charge gasoline purchases to the speed-pass owner's account.