REAL ID or Pass

Campus Report ^ | July 24, 2009 | Anthony Kang

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REAL ID or Pass

by: Anthony Kang, July 24, 2009

In 2005, REAL ID was enacted in direct response of, and to comply with the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. 18 of the 19 hijackers who took part in the September 11th attacks obtained numerous driver’s licenses and state identifications (many of them duplicates), thereby convincing the Commission of a long overdue, stricter and stringent identification standards.

“Americans understand today that the 9/11 hijackers obtained 30 drivers licenses and ID’s, and used 364 aliases,” said former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff upon releasing a finalized 2008 REAL ID report. “For an extra $8 per license, REAL ID will give law enforcement and security officials a powerful advantage against falsified documents, and it will bring some peace of mind to citizens wanting to protect their identity from theft by a criminal or illegal alien.”

Specifically, the REAL ID Act proposed new rules to “establish the minimum standards, procedures and requirements that must be met if a state issued driver’s license or identification card is to be accepted by the Federal government for official purposes. Official purposes, as defined by the rules, include entering a nuclear power facility, entering a Federal building, and boarding a Federally-regulated airplane.” Proposed regulations of REAL ID include:

• security features that must be incorporated into each state driver’s license or identification card; • verification of information provided by applicants to establish their identity and lawful status in the United States; and • physical security standards for locations where licenses and identification cards are issued.....

[Cindy]

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http://www.t3.com/news/hacker-pwns-id-card-in-12-minutes?=40077

“Hacker pwns ID card in 12 minutes”

SNIPPET: “Now the rag’s gone to pretty surprisingly lengths to toss a spanner in the Identity Card Scheme’s works. The Home Office is convinced that the ID card security is foolproof, so the Mail found a hacker, Adam Laurie, a set him (and a few hacker chums) loose on the card.

We’re pretty certain that hackers can find their way into just about anything as long as there’s a decent incentive and enough time, but even so, the fact that Laurie managed to bust through the security, clone the card and set up a brand new identity in 12 minutes flat is pretty damned impressive. Unless you’re the Home Office.

Using only a laptop and a Nokia mobile equipped with an RFID reader, Laurie pulled info off a standard ID card chip before transferring it to a new, blank card. He then changed all the recorded data to create a new identity. For extra kicks, he also added a message reading “I am a terrorist - Shoot on sight” that would show up if police read the card. We assume ‘Lolwut I can hAz ID hax!!11!’ was deemed too confusing for Mail readers.

Incidentally, the cloned card was borrowed from a foreign student and contains exactly the same tech as the ones we’ll all be compelled to carry in the next few years. Unless you don’t want a bank account or NHS treatment.

Obviously, this gaping security problem is going to be a bit of stumbling block for the ID scheme. But on the plus side, collecting football cards is going to get a whole lot more interesting.”