"Faraday caged apparel" - RFID-blocking wallets introduced
A small company has started selling RFID-blocking wallets and passport cases that promise to block unauthorized scans against RFID cards and passports. DIFRWear.com is selling their leather cases that contain "a layer of RF shielding", which prevents readers from "accessing any passive tags stored within".
Recently, a select group of diplomats were issued new US passports containing RFID tags. Eventually, all passports will have those tags and privacy groups fear these passports could be tracked with unauthorized and long-ranged readers. At the 2005 Defcon security convention, John Hering, James Burgess and Kevin Mahaffey from the Flexilis wireless security group managed to scan RFID tags from about 70 feet away.
In addition to passports, many companies have been giving RFID cards to their employees as security passes to open doors and gates. There have been concerns that the contactless nature of RFID could pose a security risk.
DIFRWear is selling the wallet for $15, while the passport case retails for $18.
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Humphrey Cheung was a senior editor at Tom's Hardware, covering a range of topics on computing and consumer electronics. You can find more of his work in many major publications, including CNN and FOX, to name a few.