What are the types of Security Attacks on RFID Systems?

There are several types of security attacks on RFID Systems which are as follows −

Physical Attack − The vulnerabilities in the implementation of larger level or transmission protocols, which are represented in the manufacturing process of RFID can be used in physical-layer attacks. One of the significant attacks which is categorized in physical-attacks is traceability attack, which abuses the alteration in the manufacturing process of tags.

Spoofing Attack − In this method, false information which the system accepts is created by an attacker. Some important information that can be altered in RFID networks including MAC Address, IP, and domain name are used by an attacker.

Eavesdropping and Skimming Attack − One of the popular threats in each wireless network is eavesdropping because of the feature of radio frequency, which can go everywhere. An unauthorized user needs an antenna to data the communication between the tag and reader in eavesdropping. An attacker can eavesdrop on both guidance reader-to-tag and tag-to-reader.

There are several areas which are vulnerable to this attack are recognized by the author, such as credit cards, traveling ticketing, E-passports, and access control. In these cases, tag’s information should be protected because an attacker can receive some advantages from these data.

Tag Cloning Attack − This attack can be appeared when the RFID tag is not secured by some security policies. The tag’s ID and also the data that are saved within the tag can be copied by an attacker and in such situations, some characteristic of RFID system is vulnerable to attacks.

Denial of Service − A Denial of Service attack is the wide term of an RFID system failure that is related to an attack. These attacks are generally physical attacks like jamming the system with noise interference, blocking radio signals, or even eliminating or disabling RFID tags.

Clandestine Tracking − The tag can emit a fixed bit series and the vehicle or person carrying this tag, allowing clandestine physical tracking by advertising this value to readers. Some data about the items that tag is connected to them can be advertising by the tag and allowing a clandestine reader and collecting intended data about a person or a company. The importance of protection tags against this attack is enhanced when an attacker uses multiple readers to reveal the information of location of tag.

Relay Attack − This attack can be counted as man-in-the-middle attack where a fake tag attempt to connect with genuine reader and fooling the reader into thinking it is real card, and the connection is correct. In this method, the protection electronic system is breached, and genuine parties, remain unaware. This attack is more dangerous when cryptographic algorithms are not executed on RFID tags.