RFID Proving Useful Against Theft

May 15, 2007 3:47 PM

           

Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology is higher-profile than ever, and is being used in an ever-expanding number of applications. Here are two examples just from today's news:

Exam papers get RFID tags

Examination board Edexcel, London, is starting to add RFID tags to exam papers in an effort to stop students' work from going missing.

The company sent out 620,000 bags of exam papers last year and received around 70 reports of security breaches.

A "significant number" will now include RFID tags that can be scanned on the way out and scanned on receipt by examiners.

Jerry Jarvis, managing director at Edexcel, says, "Incidents involving stolen papers are extremely rare, but the potential impact is massive."

"The logistics of reissuing an alternative paper to schools and colleges around the country, and retraining markers on the new paper, are complicated, costly and could ultimately be detrimental to candidates."

"We are doing a major trial of new techniques and technologies with the aim of deterring potential thefts, enabling us to better identify the source of a lost or stolen paper, and reducing the threat of fake papers being sold to candidates."

The company is also using scanning technology to catch the cheats. Nine out of 10 papers are scanned and checked to see that pupils have not given the exact same answers. It also hopes to identify results that are significantly better than predicted.


High-Tech Solution Catches DVD Thieves

DVD counterfeiting and piracy cost content creators and disk sellers billions a year in lost revenues. But even as the industry scrambles to get a step ahead of the digital thieves, a low-tech form of larceny -- the snatching of packaged DVDs from stores, warehouses and other points along the supply chain -- continues to yield losses "on the same order of magnitude," says Paul Atkinson, president and CEO at Kestrel Wireless, Emeryville, Calif.

Atkinson says, "10 to 15 percent of the disks -- especially newly released films -- shipped [annually] in the U.S. are believed to be stolen."

To combat the problem, NXP Semiconductors and Kestrel Wireless have developed an antitheft mechanism for DVDs. NXP provided the system's RFID chip; Kestrel contributed a security framework called Radio Frequency Activation (RFA).

Under the system, the DVD manufacturer would overlay each disk with a thin electro-optic layer, conceived by Kestrel. Atkins says the layer functions "like a shutter," barring a DVD player's laser from reading the disk. An RFID inlay comprising the RFID chip and an RF antenna is embedded in the disk.

DVD disks incorporating the mechanism would remain unreadable until passed through an RFID reader at the point of purchase. The reader would check a unique number embedded in the disk's RFID chip to confirm the sale. The RFID chip on the DVD would then power up, creating a short electric impulse that would change the optical behavior of the disk's electro-optic film layer and make the layer transparent. Any DVD player could then read the disk.

The passive RFID requires no internal power supply. A very small electrical current induced in the antenna by the incoming RF signal yields just enough juice to let the RFID chip power up and transmit a response.

Looking beyond the initial application in optical disks, Jan-Willem Reynaerts, general manager of the RFID market sector team at NXP, says the mechanism might have utility in such other consumer electronics products as MP3 players and flat-screen TVs.

Since the system's RFID chip integrates extra logic and nonvolatile memory for data storage, Kestrel's Atkinson says it could easily accommodate such functions as "flipping a switch to disable the power of an MP3 player" before the product is shipped.

Meanwhile, NXP, a leading promoter of near-field communication technology, is betting that RFID-enabled optical disks will boost NFC's penetration. Optical disks can use either high-frequency (13.56-MHz) or ultrahigh-frequency (915-MHz) RFID inlays. NFC technology taps short-range HF RFID tags. Reynaerts says consumers might one day use an NFC-capable mobile phone to purchase antitheft-enabled DVDs integrated with HF RFID inlays.

Under that scenario, he says, a consumer might receive a promotional pack of 10 DVD disks from a service provider and decide to watch only three of the films. The consumer would use an NFC-enabled mobile phone as a scanner to activate the selected disks and would return the rest.

The optical-media solution will enter "advance trials" in mid-2007, says Reynaerts, and is expected to appear in commercial optical disks before the year is out.

For complete coverage of RFID and what it means to security end-users, check out the cover story in the May issue of Access Control & Security Systems magazine.

Want to use this article? Click here for options!
© 2008 Penton Media Inc.

SUBSCRIBE

Select an Issue April 1, 2008 March 1, 2008 February 1, 2008 January 1, 2008 December 1, 2007 November 1, 2007 October 1, 2007 September 1, 2007 August 1, 2007 July 1, 2007 June 1, 2007 IP Security Supplement May 1, 2007 April 1, 2007 March 1, 2007 February 1, 2007 January 1, 2007 School Security December 1, 2006 November 1, 2006 October 1, 2006 September 1, 2006 August 1, 2006 July 1, 2006 June 1, 2006 May 1, 2006 April 1, 2006 March 1, 2006 February 1, 2006 January 1, 2006 December 1, 2005 November 1, 2005 October 1, 2005 September 1, 2005 August 1, 2005 July 1, 2005 June 1, 2005 May 1, 2005 April 1, 2005 March 1, 2005 February 1, 2005 January 1, 2005 December 1, 2004 November 1, 2004 October 1, 2004 September 1, 2004 August 1, 2004 July 1, 2004 July 1, 2004 June 1, 2004 May 1, 2004 April 1, 2004 March 1, 2004 February 1, 2004 January 1, 2004 December 1, 2003 November 1, 2003 October 1, 2003 September 1, 2003 August 1, 2003 July 1, 2003 June 1, 2003 May 1, 2003 April 1, 2003 March 1, 2003 February 1, 2003 January 1, 2003 December 1, 2002 November 1, 2002 October 1, 2002 September 1, 2002 August 1, 2002 July 1, 2002 June 1, 2002 May 1, 2002 April 1, 2002 March 1, 2002 February 1, 2002 January 1, 2002 December 1, 2001 November 1, 2001 October 1, 2001 September 1, 2001 August 1, 2001 July 1, 2001 June 1, 2001 May 1, 2001 April 1, 2001 March 1, 2001 February 1, 2001 January 1, 2001 December 1, 2000 November 1, 2000 October 1, 2000 September 1, 2000 August 1, 2000 July 1, 2000 June 1, 2000 May 1, 2000 April 1, 2000 March 1, 2000 February 1, 2000 January 1, 2000 December 1, 1999 November 1, 1999 October 1, 1999 September 1, 1999 August 1, 1999 July 1, 1999 June 1, 1999 May 1, 1999 April 1, 1999 March 1, 1999 February 1, 1999 January 1, 1999 December 1, 1998 November 1, 1998 October 1, 1998 September 1, 1998 August 1, 1998 July 1, 1998 June 1, 1998 May 1, 1998 April 1, 1998 March 1, 1998 February 1, 1998 January 1, 1998 December 1, 1997 November 1, 1997 October 1, 1997 September 1, 1997 August 1, 1997 July 1, 1997 June 1, 1997 May 1, 1997 April 1, 1997 March 1, 1997 February 1, 1997 January 1, 1997

This month in Access Control

• Opening Up About Door Closers
• An Enterprise Approach
• The Framework For Open Systems
• On A Higher Plane
• More from April's issue