Today at crime scene lab we were introduced to our first look at R.F.I.D.’s [Radio Frequency Identifiers]. Very unique and if I must be like a child, very cool. We were each given a badge with an R.F.I.D. chip in it and of course our pictures and names. The pictures were absolutely terrible. As soon as I got home today I switched it out because it was that bad.
These chips, when placed directly onto a radio frequency will tell you all the information they contain. On our chips they have our information. Quite creepy I know, but it is so interesting.
When we collect evidence and information at crime scenes we can take an RFID chip, input all of the evidence information such as the time it was collected, the day, by whom, what evidence number it is, all of the important information that we used to have to fill out on forms previously.
Now, you simply type in that information slap one of these babies right onto the bag that contains the evidence, and away you go.
This is crazy. They have even attached all of these tags to our Nikon D80’s so that they will be able to keep track of who has cameras so no more will be stolen. [There was an incident last year when one of the cameras disappeared and they still haven’t located it yet.]
The best part about the chips is assigning something under ID badge. What you do is put the chip of whatever you are checking out, ex. a piece of evidence, one of the forensic laptops, or a camera, put your badge onto the Radio frequency plate with it and it automatically puts your name as the person in charge of that piece of evidence.
Think about this in terms of chain of custody. We will be able to transfer evidence easily and efficienly while still establishing the basic principles of forensic science. This is definatley going to be something that will become much more wide spread in the future. I do believe that we are one of the first universities to even try out the radio frequencies.
I love being able to test out new technology. Understanding something that inadvertantly is very complex, but can be so simple, as I just explained the whole gist of it to you, is both scary and exciting.
Confessions of a Writer<3
1 Comment
Interesting post. My take on all this is that technology is essentially neutral - i.e. it is neither inheritantly good or bad, but it is the actions of the end user that dictates what's possible. There are many extraordinary possibilities with RFID or 'contactless' technology as it's commonly called - and it will be amazing to see how this stuff gets deployed over the next decade or so. However, even at this early stage in the game (so to speak) it's also important to note that RFID is not a foolproof system.
By 2012 it is estimated that over 29 million British citizens will carry some form of RFID enabled device. All UK passports issued since 2006 store bio-metric information about the holder. Likewise, credit cards are also being issued with embedded RFID chips. I'm concerned that RFID information theft may be the next major crime wave to hit the UK.
Security risks have already been identified with this relatively new technology, and many cards (even your new bio-metric passport) could be read quite easily using portable equipment. (RFID data has been 'skimmed' from distances between 50 to 69 feet using suitable equipment.) As this technology develops, criminals will become even more motivated to steal your personal details - and you won’t feel a thing! (The RFID encryption on UK passport chips was broken in less than 48 hours after their launch in 2006, and passport data has also been read whilst in the postal system.)
Scanners used to read RFID information can be easily purchased by anyone, from ‘online’ stores for less than £200. With a scanner, and the appropriate software in place, anyone has the potential to read information from your RFID enabled device.
However ‘anti-skim’ productsare now available, and you can learn a little more about this at my blog.
Hoping this is helpful in some way, and again thanks for helping raise awareness.
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