RFID Security Using Lightweight Mutual Authentication and Ownership Transfer Protocol

Abstract

In recent years, radio frequency identification technology has moved into the mainstream applications that help to speed up handling of manufactured goods and materials. RFID tags are divided into two classes: active and passive. Active tag requires a power source that's why its cost is more than passive tags. However, the low-cost RFID tags are facing new challenges to security and privacy. Some solutions utilize expensive cryptographic primitives such as hash or encryption functions, and some lightweight approaches have been reported to be not secure. This paper describes a lightweight Mutual authentication and ownership transfer protocol utilizing minimalistic cryptography using Physically Unclonable Functions (PUF) and Linear Feedback Shift Registers (LFSR). PUFs and LFSRs are very efficient in hardware and particularly suitable for the low-cost RFID tags. To functioning security in low cost RFID tag minimum gate requirement is 2000 gates. To implement security protocols using PUF and LFSR functions need only approx 800 gates. In this paper it is explained how we can authenticate and transfer ownership of low cost RFID tag securely using LFSR and PUF as compared to existing solutions based on hash functions.