Security standards for the RFID market

As the RFID market expands, we'll see the continued proliferation of RFID tags built for highly specialized vertical markets, which means greater variety and the consequent need to ensure interoperability. A great deal of research and development is currently under way in the RFID security field to mitigate both known and postulated risks. Manufacturers; business managers, and RFID systems engineers continue to weigh the trade-offs between chip size, cost, functionality, interoperability, security and privacy with the bottom-line impact on business processes. Security features supporting data confidentiality, tag-to-reader authentication, optimized RF protocols, high-assurance readers, and secure system engineering principles should become available. Security and privacy in RFID tags aren't just technical issues; important policy questions arise as RFID tags join to create large sensor networks and bring us closer to "ubiquitous computing." With public attention focused on the RFID landscape, security and privacy have moved to the forefront in RFID standards work, and the results are worth watching.