OUR MISSION

RFID CUSP is a partnership between academic and industrial scientists specializing in RFID security and privacy. Our mission is to make RFID safe for consumers by conducting open research and educating the next generation work force that will develop, deploy and maintain secure RFID infrastructures.

Planning ahead: Good security is built in, not bolted on. The Internet has taught a key lesson: It is less costly to anticipate threats and to secure systems from the start than to patch after the fact.

Open design: Public scrutiny usually breeds stronger systems than private finger-crossing. Openness has long been a cardinal rule of cryptography and a pillar of secure system design. Similarly, responsible disclosure of vulnerabilities holds the technology industry to high standards and brings vital education to the community.

Thinking holistically: Well conceived goals beget well conceived solutions. Thorough understanding of the uses and abuses of a system is the first step toward economical and effective security.

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
June 6, 2008:
Prof. Kevin Fu explained the challenges for security and privacy of contactless credit cards, NFC phones, and chip-and-pin to attendees at the 2008 Payments Conference organized by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

IEEE Security & Privacy Best Paper Award
May 19, 2008:
RFID CUSP researchers received the Outstanding Paper Award at the 29th Annual IEEE Symposium on Security & Privacy for the paper entitled, "Pacemakers and implantable cardiac defibrillators: Software-radio attacks and zero-power defenses."

Medical Device Security and Privacy
March 12, 2008:
Team members from RFID CUSP discovered that an implantable cardioverter defibrillator can leak private information and allow unauthorized parties to modify settings that control shock therapies. Read the full report and coverage by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and a press release.

RFID Workshop
January 2008:
Attendees from academia, industry, and government participated in the RFID Security Workshop at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

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Feb 2008:
Dr. Ari Juels explains overlooked nuances of security and privacy for the upcoming U.S. Passport card. Read more >

Feb 2007:
Microchips Under Your Skin: RFIDs may be good for identification, but not authentication purposes. Read more >

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