Austin J. DeLaCruzINFS 3370Dr. Anand S. Kunnathur Communications and Security Issues with RFIDA, By now you are well aware that the world has become increasingly technology-oriented. Every day we use technology in one way or another. Whether it's simply checking emails or being able to turn on our entire home by simply pressing a button on our smartphone. Whether we like it or not, the technology is there. One piece of technology that seems to be attracting attention and garnering more research is radio frequency identification, or RFID. Radio frequency identification is a form of wireless media in which messages and data are transmitted through the air. This is a radio transmission that uses an RFID tag, RFID reader and back-end system to communicate back and forth and does not require line of sight. As simple as it may seem, this technology has its fair share of complications, and the security issues that have arisen are at the forefront of this expanding technology. As mentioned above, the RFID system has three main components; the tag, the reader and the back-end system. There are two types of RFID tags: active and passive. Active tags are battery powered and therefore have a limited lifespan. These tags are writable and readable. Passive tags, on the other hand, are quite simple. When they are near an RFID reader, the tag begins transmitting the data it has stored in its memory. Radio transmission from the reader provides the energy necessary for the tag to function. (Paraschiv page 10) The reader consists of a frequency module, a control unit and a control unit that helps it communicate with the tag via radio transmission. Readers can take various forms from mobile or portable to......paper medium......and. (Chin-Feng Journal page 2) The debate on the growing implementation of RFID is constantly going back and forth. As the technology has found its way into licenses and passports. The recurring theme throughout all of this is that RFID in various forms of identification will allow certain authorized individuals the ability to access information about a specific person and have assets such as criminal records, known aliases, or any other information that could protect against a security. threat. While the underlying belief is that only basic information stored on RFID tags is harmless, the truth is that even the simplest data can eventually become important. Tadayoshi Kohno believes that information security should be taken seriously: "Information and uses evolve over time, and these things can reveal more than we initially expect." (Naone, p 73)