Passport Skimming

Any place, Anytime.. You could be skimmed

Passport Skimming and your modern ePassports which contain a radio chip and can be exposed to passport skimming via RFID using the very same technology to read the data from the passport as a legitimate customs agent.

Why risk your personal identity data with anything less than Armourcard’s active jamming technology to protect your passports from being skimmed?

Global roll-out of ePassports

Global roll-out of ePassport, or biometric passport technology has also made it easy for them to potentially be skimmed.

They transmit and communicate your data via RFID over open airwaves  (like your Tap & Go credit cards or eToll devices do).

With the global roll-out of ePassport, or biometric passports, it was only a matter of time before criminals hacked them using the very same technology that they use to transmit your personal data to a reader. This technology is called Radio-Frequency Identification or RFID as it is more commonly known.

The way RFID works is a RFID reader sends a signal to your e Passport’s microchip via the RFID antenna embedded in your e passport. This query (signal) tells the micro-chip to transmit the data stored on the microchip within your e passport back to the RFID reader across open airwaves.

Now any hacker or skimmer can buy a RFID reader off ebay for under $100. They then program the reader to search for RFID enabled e passports and gain access to the data stored within the micro chip.

Data is an identity thief’s dream score

The governments who have moved to biometric passports will tell you that it is secure and the data is encrypted so all measures are taken to protect your personal data.

Identity Theft Article | ePassport Hacked | Daily Mail – ARMOURCARD While the hacking community tells us they are not secure and can be hacked easily, There is an article in the UK Mail^ showing the EU passport being hacked within 4 hours.

The debate is constantly running on the security of your data on these ePassports.

On the market currently their are many ‘passport protection’ wallets or sleeves that offer passive# RFID protection, their are even some home remedies like wrapping your passport in aluminium or duct-tape.

At Armourcard we personally did not want to leave our data in the arena of maybe it’s safe, maybe it is not or to any passive RFID shields which seem to have varying degrees of success#.

#“Passive Shields or metallic wallets – Only reduce the signal strength, this will not block a high-powered RFID reader”

Kristin Paget | Chief Hacker, Recursion Ventures.

Source: ^Daily Mail UK Hacked ePassport article # Credit Card Fraud Report – The contactless Generation | Kristin Paget | Chief Hacker, Recursion Ventures. Please note Kristin Paget does not sponsor or officially endorse this website or product, we have only referenced a report that is freely available online to download and read. All credit for the report and its findings go to Kristin Paget. *International Patent Application filed: PCT/AU2013/001415

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