RFID malware: Design principles and examples

Abstract

This paper explores the concept of malware for Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) systems — including RFID exploits, RFID worms, and RFID viruses. We present RFID malware design principles together with concrete examples; the highlight is a fully illustrated example of a self-replicating RFID virus. The various RFID malware approaches are then analyzed for their effectiveness across a range of target platforms. This paper concludes by warning RFID middleware developers to build appropriate checks into their RFID middleware before it achieves wide-scale deployment in the real world.