Volume IV

Issue : 6: March 23, 2006

• Lawsuit Attacks Googles Secret Formula
• Court Rules Unauthorized Website Scraping May Be Actionable as Unjust Enrichment
• BC Court Finds Source Code Within Definition of Software at Time of Sale of Business
• UK Court Ruled ISPs Not Liable For Posting of Defamatory Content
• Canadian Cyberstalker Jailed
• OPC Issues Guidelines for the Use of Video Cameras in Public Spaces
• Class Action Launched Against Music Labels Alleging Price Fixing in Online Market
• Study Concludes RFID Tags May Be Vulnerable To Viruses
• European Commission Begins Public Inquiry into RFID Tag Technology
• OPP Cracks Down on Wireless Internet Theft
• Sony Faces Setback in Patent Battle Over Vibrotactile Technology
• Google Settles Click Fraud Suit For $90 Million
• Quebec Company Fined for Evading Private Copying Levies

Home > Volume IV > Issue 6: March 23, 2006 > Study Concludes RFID Tags May Be Vulnerable To Viruses

Study Concludes RFID Tags May Be Vulnerable To Viruses

A group of computer researchers affiliated with Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam have produced the world’s first virus for RFID tags. In a paper entitled, “Is Your Cat Infected with a Computer Virus?” presented at the annual Pervasive Computing and Communications Conference, the group, lead by Andrew S. Tanenbaum, demonstrated that an RFID chip can be infected with an SQL-based replicating virus.

The group did not use a commercially available RFID software program, but rather designed one comparable to existing software. The RFID chip with the program was then infected with the virus code. The virus then infects the RFID database when scanned, and can be spread to other RFID chips via scanning.

Some industry groups have been quick to challenge the results of the paper, claiming that the software used was poorly written and not reflective of current RFID software development. Others have acknowledged that the results represent a wake-up call for an industry that has received increasing criticism over weaknesses in security and encryption.

For a copy of the presentation, visit:

http://www.rfidvirus.org