Hackers crack new biometric passport

Speaking at this year’s Defcon hacker conference in Las Vegas, Lukas Grunwald, a consultant with a German security company, stated that he has identified a security flaw in the UK’s forthcoming biometric passport.

Aug 24, 2006
By David Howell
Picture: BTP

Speaking at this year’s Defcon hacker conference in Las Vegas, Lukas Grunwald, a consultant with a German security company, stated that he has identified a security flaw in the UK’s forthcoming biometric passport.

He claims to have discovered a method for cloning the information held on the passport’s chip. The data could be transferred to blank chips which in turn could be used to create new counterfeit passports. The news also casts doubt on the ID card scheme that will also use similar technology.

Mr Grunwald also detailed how he copied the information from a legitimate passport with equipment costing just over £100.

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