Digital Forensics in Small Devices: RFID Tag Investigation

3.2.2 Review of Problem Areas in RFID Stock Management System
As mentioned in the previous chapter (Chapter 2; Section 2.4), there are so many
threats and challenges in RFID enabled BS. Different researchers in recent literature
proposed different RFID security risk models (Garfinkel et al., 2005; Karygiannis et
al., 2006; Ding et al., 2008; Mitrokotsa et al., 2010) while other researchers discussed
the classifications of RFID attacker behaviors (for example: Mirowski, Hartnett &
Williams, 2009). Nonetheless, the problems concerned with the proposed security
risk model related to this research (see Section 2.5, Figure 2.15) will be reviewed and
discussed as follows:
3.2.2.1 The SI Entity Security Risk
The architecture and engineering of a RFID Tag (Section 2.1.1) invites a suite
of obvious attacks that may exploit any radio frequency device, for example,
as stated in Sections 2.4 and 2.5, radio frequency jamming, sniffing, teasing
(for replay), tracking, and interference (disrupt and denial) (Bolan, 2007; Rao,
et al., 2005). Some of the less obvious vulnerabilities are in the perceived
appetite for risk. The false sense of security engendered by the innovation and
the „off-line‟ context reduce awareness of the potential threats and yet the high
value of the stock inventories managed by RFID tags heightens the criminal‟s
motivation to take a risk. The perception that RFID tags (Section 2.1.1) are
small and cannot be protected overlooks the growing capacity of Tags and the
strengthening of encryption algorithms. The scanners (Section 2.1.2) and the
relatively large number of lines of source code use to read and write on tags
provide a celebrity challenge and backdoor for criminal activity.
According to the literature review in Section 2.1.1, RFID tags are
passive and active by nature of their design and each type has particular risks.
The type of tag can determine the attack vector and the proximity an attacker
must gain (Mirowski et al., 2009). For example a tag with a range of one meter
or less would require the presence of an attacker onsite and possible social
engineering for a radio attack to be effective. Passive tags are open to kill hits
and hence the retail exit security can be negated (Tu & Piramuthu, 2008; El-
Said & Woodring, 2009). Active tags with the read/write feature can be
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