Why I Microwaved My Passport

A few months ago I got a new passport (since I got a new name). The first thing I did was throw it in the microwave for 20 seconds. Why? Because the USA is starting to embed RFID chips in new passports, and in case mine had one, I wanted to fry it. Here's a nice article that explains why RFID in passports is a bad idea, and in fact the last line of the article recommends doing exactly what I did.

At a pair of security conferences here, researchers demonstrated that passports equipped with radio frequency identification (RFID) tags can be cloned with a laptop equipped with a $200 RFID reader and a similarly inexpensive smart card writer. In addition, they suggested that RFID tags embedded in travel documents could identify U.S. passports from a distance, possibly letting terrorists use them as a trigger for explosives.

Researchers: E-passports pose security risk | CNET News.com

Comments

[Thomas]

Well done...

[Laura Fisher]

I am blown away - had no idea about the passports! Wow.

[cheesebikini]

Scary stuff indeed. Good work.

Fun fact: All new microwave ovens sold in the US as of 1/1/06 have a special passport-sensing v-chip that causes them to self destruct if you try that.