RFID Applications in E-Healthcare - E-Healthcare Systems and Wireless Communications - page 82

either simulate the tag towards the reader
or the reader towards the tag (Lieshout et
al., 2007, p.133).

integrity of the filters and misguiding the
product management system (Lieshout et
al., 2007, p.135).

• Blocking: Blocker tags can simulate to

readers the presence of any number of tags,
thereby locking the reader. These blocker
tags are configured for the respective anti-
collision protocol that is needed for such
an attack (Lieshout et al., 2007, p.133).

• Corrupted drivers: The drivers that are

used by RFID readers to communicate
with the middleware of the RFID system,
could be corrupted by either modifying the
driver of a genuine reader or by replacing
the original reader with a fake one that has
a corrupted driver; and then using these
corrupted drivers to attack and misguide
the gateway (Lieshout et al., 2007, p.135).

• Jamming: It is a deliberate attempt to dis-

turb the air interface between the reader
and tag and attack the integrity or avail-
ability of communication by use of pow-
erful transmitters at a large distance, but
also through more passive means such as
shielding. As the air interface is not very
robust, even simple passive measures
prove very effective (Lieshout et al., 2007,
p.134).

Technical Aspects of RFID

RFID technology needs tags and readers to fulfill
its purpose. Since RFID is dependent on these two
components - RFID tags and readers, there are
several technical issues that revolve that around
them. The technical concerns are: standardization,
easily disturbed RFID systems, reader collision
and tag collision.

• Relay attack: A device is placed between

readers and tags so that all the commu-
nication between the reader and tag goes
through the device. The communication
between the reader and tag can be smartly
modified, for example in payment sys-
tems to charge the wrong electronic card
(Lieshout et al., 2007, p.134).

Standardization

Standards are critical for many RFID applications
such as payment systems or tracking assets. A
great deal of work has already been done and is
still going on, to develop standards for different
RFID frequencies and applications. Currently,
the standardization among RFID manufacturers'
readers, tag frequencies and recording software
are causes of concern in the market. Technologies
avoid standardization so as to prevent competition
from other manufacturers. Standardized RFID tags
can enable easy tacking and monitoring of assets,
especially in supply chain. Until the standards are
set, the cost of implementing RFID technology
will outweigh its benefits (Shoewu & Badejo,
2006, pp.149-150).

Security Threats for Readers

• Falsifying reader ID: In a secure RFID

system, readers need to prove their authori-
zation to tags. If attackers want to read tag
data with their own reader, then they would
need to fake their reader's identity to be an
unauthorized reader and even need access
to the backend of the system. Based on the
security measures, such attacks can either
be very easy or practically impossible to
carry out (Lieshout et al., 2007, p.134).

• Misuse of gateway interface: The user

interface to the gateway could be misused
by unauthorized people for attacking the