Guardian: Hackers Crack Biometric Passports

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Monday August 07, 2006 16:07

by Chris Murray - The Unmanageables

"The Whole Passport design is totally Brain-damaged"

From: http://technology.guardian.co.uk/0,,782450,00.html

A 415 million pound scheme of biometric passports is in question today
after hackers broke the codes (within two weeks) of the biometric
passport scheme- ( A Blairite response to 9/11)
The biometric info includes finger-prints, facial scan and iris patterns.

The full report is in today's Guardian
The scheme , or technology was also part of a national i.d card scheme
which was to be introduced soon, in Britain.

A conference in Las Vegas , addressed by Lukas Grumwald (german security company)
was told that the hackers cloned the info stored in the new passports and then
transferred it onto blank chips, which could then be implanted in false passports.

Grunwald said that the accomplishmnet undermined the British biometric project.

The hacker equipment cost $200.

In Ireland the financial sector are currently lobbying the National Parliament to
introduce a similiar scheme nationally which would see all of us carrying national
i.d. The reason for the lobby is stated as: a deterrent against money laundering
and financial crime.
Http;//technology.guardian.co.uk/0,,782450,00.html

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Comments (8 of 8)

another link

Mon Aug 07, 2006 16:11

http://www.guardian.co.uk/

copied not cracked

by anon

Mon Aug 07, 2006 16:21

Heathrow tests biometric controls on passangers

by Seán Ryan

Thu Dec 07, 2006 14:49

Heathrow is giving a new option to passangers travelling to selected destinations. These passangers if they 'volunteer' to have their fingerprints, eyes and faces biometrically scanned, will be fastracked through security.

British minister for immigration Liam Byrne says, "Biometric ID systems are fundamental to securing our borders in a more mobile age. they are crucial for counting everyone in and out of the country."

This Biometric service is called miSense http://www.misense.org

One of the companies responsible for the development of miSense is Ratheon, or as it is more commonly known, Raytheon.

Editor's Note: Unsubstantiated musings edited out

Related Link: http://www.computerweekly.com/Home/..%5CArticles/2006/1...s.htm

Links to the UK situation

by reader

Thu Dec 07, 2006 20:34

Since Michael Mc Dowell seems intent on colluding in all types of globalisation
with his very best friends Peter Hain and John Redi- maybe Irish readers
would be interested in the anti-id campaign in Britain. The link is:

http://www.no2id.net/index.php

The Irish 'Justice' minister is introducing biometric ID's for the immigrant
community as part of his Immigration, Residence and Protection bill- to be
followed, no doubt by giving them to the poor.

Other joys include- the increase of stop and search powers of the British Police.
There really is little difference in globalised politics....

ongoing awareness campaign

article at link

Substantiated musing

Fri Dec 08, 2006 13:29

Allow me to re-muse my earlier point. I didn't go into great detail as the topic matter is very current and is in the public domain.

I said that new Irish passports are 'chipped' and that they contain many 'dormant' facilities, including the ability to retain fingerprint data. It is my opinion that these dormant facilities are soon to be made active, what with the folks at Heathrow collecting and using biometric data, like fingerprints. This is known as setting a 'precedent.' And moves out of the realm of 'unsubstantiated' musings.

Dermot Ahern said this on the 8th of December this year: "While the new biometric passport will look much the same as its predecessor, it will have a microchip embedded in it which contains the digitised facial image and personal details of the passport holder as they appear on the data page. The microchip can be read electronically at border controls. The Government has no plans, at this stage, to include a citizen's finger prints." http://foreignaffairs.gov.ie/services/passports/ePasspo...s.asp

Still Not Substantiated

by Lone Gunman

Fri Dec 08, 2006 14:08

"The Government has no plans, at this stage, to include a citizen's finger prints."

What part of that sentence do you not understand? You seem to imply that the goverenment is secretly going to include fingerprints. Why not take a constitutional case on it?

As substantiated as you're ever going to get

by Caobhin

Fri Dec 08, 2006 15:49

"The Government has no plans, at this stage, to include a citizen's finger prints."

i.e; they have and they will.

fund the hackers

by hackerette

Fri Dec 08, 2006 18:17

The governments of Ireland and UK are concerned in co-operating across a wide
range of issues that benefit no-one except their corporate backers. They pay
billions for study groups/ technology developers/mainstream media exposure.

Then the hackers turn their voting machines into chess games and their biometric
id's into the laughing stock of the globe- BUT, the thing is this people buy the
fear message- the terrorism message and allow erosion of civil liberties.

Fund the hackers and resist the fortress Europe homogenisation of civil liberties
propounded in Ireland by FG/PD. it is also an example of why independent press
is so important- in Ireland it is agendified and masculinist. - censorship abounds.

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Guardian: Hackers Crack Biometric Passports

Comments (8 of 8)