Analysis and improvement of a pseudorandom number generator for EPC Gen2 tags

J. Melia-Segui, J. Garcia-Alfaro, J. Herrera-Joancomarti

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

The EPC Gen2 is an international standard that proposes the use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) in the supply chain. It is designed to balance cost and functionality. The development of Gen2 tags faces, in fact, several challenging constraints such as cost, compatibility regulations, power consumption, and performance requirements. As a consequence, security on board of Gen2 tags is often minimal. It is, indeed, mainly based on the use of on board pseudorandomness. This pseudorandomness is used to blind the communication between readers and tags; and to acknowledge the proper execution of password-protected operations. Gen2 manufacturers are often reluctant to show the design of their pseudorandom generators. Security through obscurity has always been ineffective. Some open designs have also been proposed. Most of them fail, however, to prove their correctness. We analyze a recent proposal presented in the literature and demonstrate that it is, in fact, insecure. We propose an alternative mechanism that fits the Gen2 constraints and satisfies the security requirements.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationFinancial Cryptography and Data Security - FC 2010 Workshops, RLCPS, WECSR, and WLC 2010, Revised Selected Papers
Pages34-46
Number of pages13
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 6 Sept 2010
Externally publishedYes
Event14th Financial Cryptograpy and Data Security International Conference, FC 2010 - Tenerife, Spain
Duration: 25 Jan 201028 Jan 2010

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
Volume6054 LNCS
ISSN (Print)0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)1611-3349

Conference

Conference14th Financial Cryptograpy and Data Security International Conference, FC 2010
Country/TerritorySpain
CityTenerife
Period25/01/1028/01/10

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