RFID Security Alliance Member Comments About PUF Technology

Verayo recently announced that they have released the worlds first unclonable RFID chip at RFID World in Las Vegas. Both Verayo and Veratag incorporate similar principles to achieve unclonability in their designs, in the sense that they rely on capturing differences introduced in manufacturing. In theory, this appears to be quite "solid". Both Verayo and Veratag are members of the RFID Security Alliance.

Celebrated security researcher Karsten Nohl is also a member of the RFID Security Alliance, and is well known for his research and commentary on RFID security. Karsten recently commented on PUF technology:

Verayo is the second company to announce the "World’s first unclonable RFID tag" based on a physically unclonable function (PUF), after Veratag announced a similar product based on PUF technology. The security claims of these and other PUF-based products seem dubious since the current realization of PUFs defies basic principles of cryptography. The announcement states:
This new RFID chip is based on recently announced breakthrough technology called Physical Unclonable Functions (PUF). PUF technology is a type of electronic DNA or fingerprinting technology for silicon chips that makes each chip unclonable.
It might be besides the point that neither DNA, nor fingerprints are unclonable. The failure of proprietary security, which has been a constant theme on this blog, has led many to conclude that only well-reviewed security primitives can be strong. PUF technology tries to achieve security in exactly the opposite way: the PUF circuit is designed in a way so that not even the designer understands how outputs are derived from inputs. Security-by-obscurity par excellence.
Every circuit, including PUFs, is a deterministic function; the only difference in PUF circuits is that some inputs to the function vary across different tags. For a PUF to be cryptographically strong, one would hence need to show that

1. the fixed part of the circuit (the cipher) is strong by cryptographic metrics,
2. the number of device-dependent inputs (the secret key) is large and
3. the entropy of these inputs is high.

PUFs are a wonderful idea for using manufacturing variance constructively, but in their current realization, PUFs fail to convince that they are strong building blocks for security systems.

It is important to note that while Nohl, Verayo, and Veratag are all members of the RFID Security Alliance this does not preclude scrutiny of security claims made by members of the RFIDSA, nor commentary of the same. It is also important to emphasize that this level of scrutiny is critical for the "vetting" of designs and technologies.

Adam Savage Changes His Account Of RFID Vendor Intimidation

In a previous post, I had linked to a YouTube video where Adam Savage of MythBusters gives an account of intimidation by credit card company legal teams when the MythBusters team was trying to prepare for a future episode which dealt with RFID vulnerabilities (among other RFID related topics).

Since that YouTube video has received some publicity, Adam Savage has taken a step back from his comments. From the CNet article:

MythBusters co-host Adam Savage is stepping back from public comments suggesting that legal counsel from several credit card companies led the Discovery Channel to pull the plug on an episode dedicated to security holes in RFID.
At the Last HOPE conference in New York in July, Savage told a crowd of several thousand people that his theory on why MythBusters had not gone forward with a planned episode on RFID (radio frequency identification) hackability was that on a conference call to discuss the matter with technicians from Texas Instruments, the lawyers for the credit cards companies had put the hammer down on the show.
"Texas Instruments comes on along with chief legal counsel for American Express, Visa, Discover, and everybody else (co-host Tory Belleci and a MythBusters producer) were way, way out-gunned," Savage told the crowd, "and (the lawyers) absolutely made it really clear to Discovery that they were not going to air this episode talking about how hackable this stuff was, and Discovery backed way down, being a large corporation that depends upon the revenue of the advertisers. Now it's on Discovery's radar and they won't let us go near it."
But Texas Instruments spokeswoman Cindy Huff told CNET News on Tuesday that things had gone a bit different than Savage had said.
"In June 2007, MythBusters was interested in pursuing some great myth-busting ideas for RFID. While in pursuit, they contacted Texas Instruments' RFID Systems, who is a pioneer of RFID and contactless technology, for technical help and understanding of RFID in the contactless payments space," Huff said. "Some of the information that was needed to pursue the program required further support from the contactless payment companies as they construct their own proprietary systems for security to protect their customers. To move the process along, Texas Instruments coordinated a conversation with Smart Card Alliance (SCA) who invited MasterCard and Visa, on contactless payments to help MythBusters get the right information. Of the handful of people on the call, there were mostly product managers and only one contactless payment company's legal counsel member. Technical questions were asked and answered and we were to wait for MythBusters to let us know when they were planning on showing the segment. A few weeks later, Texas Instruments was told by MythBusters that the storyline had changed and they were pursuing a different angle which did not require our help."
And now, even Savage is saying that he got his facts wrong.
In a statement from Savage--who was speaking for himself at the conference and not appearing on behalf of the show--provided to CNET News by Discovery Channel on Wednesday, the MythBusters co-host retracted the substance of what he'd told the Last HOPE audience.
"There's been a lot of talk about this RFID thing, and I have to admit that I got some of my facts wrong, as I wasn't on that story, and as I said on the video, I wasn't actually in on the call," Savage said in the statement. "Texas Instruments' account of their call with Grant and our producer is factually correct. If I went into the detail of exactly why this story didn't get filmed, it's so bizarre and convoluted that no one would believe me, but suffice to say...the decision not to continue on with the RFID story was made by our production company, Beyond Productions, and had nothing to do with Discovery, or their ad sales department."
From his statement, it's also logical to conclude that when he told the Last HOPE audience that co-host Belleci was on the conference call, he had meant Grant Imahara, another MythBuster co-host.
Further, a Discovery Channel representative told me that MythBusters did end up running an episode, last January, on RFID, but that the issue of the technology's security holes was not addressed.

I will leave it up to you to decide what this potentially means, as my feelings about this are conjecture at best.

Official RFID Security Alliance Announcement

Today the RFID Security Alliance had the pleasure of officially announcing our presence to the world. I sincerely wish to thank all who have helped build the RFID Security Alliance, and continue to help it grow.

From the Business Wire Press Release:

The RFID Security Alliance Emerges As New Industry Resource
Alliance Drives Market Education and Dialog about Security and Privacy Issues Surrounding the Use of RFID Solutions and Applications
SAUSALITO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The RFID Security Alliance (RFIDSA) today officially made its presence known as a new resource for the radio frequency identification (RFID) industry, driving market education and discussion about security and privacy issues surrounding the use of RFID technologies, solutions and applications. RFIDSA aims to be a visible resource to the RFID community through people, tools, market presence and organizational involvement.
“Founding members of the RFID Security Alliance all share a common vision of implementing RFID applications with the appropriate level of security and privacy, balancing risk and cost,” said Mike Ahmadi, chairman of the RFIDSA and COO of GraniteKey. “We want others to realize that security and privacy are functions that can successfully be part of an RFID solution, and that should be considered during the design process, not after.”
The RFIDSA has several goals and objectives, including:
Education – To educate all stakeholders (e.g. Alliance members, potential users, analysts, educational institutions, media, etc.) about security and privacy issues as they relate to RFID, in addition to associated technologies and processes.
Metrics – To develop metrics that may be used to establish common terminology around security robustness within the industry.
Dialog – To foster an open, two-way dialog within the RFID community.
Resources – To provide information and support to stakeholders involved in RFID development and implementation. This includes developing and publishing a public reference list of RFID vendors involved in the RFIDSA.
Legislative and PR Involvement – To inspire all RFIDSA members to become involved in, and monitor social and legislative initiatives with respect to RFID security and privacy. This includes addressing myths surrounding RFID security, and promoting positive legislation and perception through sensible analysis. Also included is examining and commenting on the liabilities of those who ignore the security implications in RFID development and implementation.
Demonstration Technologies – To have the capability to effectively demonstrate the RFIDSA concepts and initiatives, including the development of RFID security threat assessment models.
Acceleration of Secure RFID – To foster an environment that leads to sensible and rapid adoption of secure RFID technologies and solutions.
Founding members of the RFIDSA include AWID, GraniteKey, MIKOH Corporation, NeoCatena Networks, Inc., QLM Consulting, SecureRF Corporation, Sensitel, Sybase and Verayo. Companies with a substantial business in providing RFID or security hardware, software, or services are encouraged to inquire about membership with the RFIDSA. Law firms, consulting firms, accounting firms and educational institutions interested in the RFID security issue are also welcome.
About the RFID Security Alliance:
The RFID Security Alliance (RFIDSA), a California corporation, was founded as a resource for the RFID industry, driving market education and discussion about security and privacy issues surrounding the use of RFID technologies, solutions and applications. More information about RDIDSA can be found on its Web site at www.RFIDSA.com. Insights into RFID Security can be also found on the association’s blog at http://rfidsa.blogspot.com/.