Reverse engineering the communications protocol of an RFID public transportation card
Abstract
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) security has not been properly handled in numerous applications, such as in public transportation systems. In this paper, a methodology to reverse engineer and detect security flaws is put into practice. Specifically, the communications protocol of an ISO/IEC 14443-B public transportation card used by hundreds of thousands of people in Spain was analyzed. By applying the methodology with a hardware tool (Proxmark 3), it was possible to access private information (e.g. trips performed, buses taken, fares applied...), to capture tag-reader communications, and even emulate both tags and readers.
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As a result of the combination of the latest advances in electronics, networking, and robotics, it is feasible to develop advanced sensor systems for different sectors and applications: energy efficiency, Industry 4.0, home automation, public safety and defense, precision agriculture or transportation.
“As a result of the combination of the latest advances in electronics, networking, and robotics, it is feasible to develop advanced sensor systems for different sectors and applications: energy efficiency [32], Industry 4.0 [33,34], home automation [35], public safety and defense [36,37], precision agriculture [38] or transportation [39].”
From Towards the Internet of Smart Trains: A Review on Industrial IoT-Connected Railways (2017) · cites this paper as [39]
Several smart cards used in public transportation present faults.
“considering that several smart cards used in public transportation present faults [39,40]”
From Towards the Internet of Smart Trains: A Review on Industrial IoT-Connected Railways (2017) · cites this paper as [39]
The most common reason to justify blockchain is the lack of trust in the organization that manages the infrastructure or some privacy requirements specified by a client.
“The most common reason is the lack of trust in the organization that manages the infrastructure or some privacy requirements specified by a client [33].”
From A Review on the Application of Blockchain to the Next Generation of Cybersecure Industry 4.0 Smart Factories (2019) · cites this paper as [33]
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Fernández‐Caramés, T. M. (2015) · International Journal of Distributed Sensor Networks · doi:10.1155/2015/214805 · Cited by 88 · see citing works
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Fernández-Caramés, T., Fraga-Lamas, P., Suárez-Albela, M., & Castedo, L. (2016) · Sensors · doi:10.3390/s17010028 · Cited by 81 · see citing works
Self-citationSmart Pipe System for a Shipyard 4.0
Fraga-Lamas, P., Noceda-Davila, D., Fernández-Caramés, T., Díaz-Bouza, M., & Vilar-Montesinos, M. (2016) · Sensors · doi:10.3390/s16122186 · Cited by 73 · see citing works
Self-citationChameleon: A Versatile Emulator for Contactless Smartcards
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Radio Frequency Identification
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A Review on the Use of Blockchain for the Internet of Things
Fernandez-Carames, T. M., & Fraga-Lamas, P. (2018) · IEEE Access · doi:10.1109/access.2018.2842685 · Cited by 1,078 · see citing works
Self-citationFernandez-Carames, T. M., & Fraga-Lamas, P. (2020) · IEEE Access · doi:10.1109/access.2020.2968985 · Cited by 607 · see citing works
Self-citationFernandez-Carames, T. M., & Fraga-Lamas, P. (2019) · IEEE Access · doi:10.1109/access.2019.2908780 · Cited by 321 · see citing works
Self-citationTowards the Internet of Smart Trains: A Review on Industrial IoT-Connected Railways
Fraga-Lamas, P., Fernández-Caramés, T., & Castedo, L. (2017) · Sensors · doi:10.3390/s17061457 · Cited by 267 · see citing works
Self-citationBlanco-Novoa, O., Fernandez-Carames, T. M., Fraga-Lamas, P., & Vilar-Montesinos, M. A. (2018) · IEEE Access · doi:10.1109/access.2018.2802699 · Cited by 183 · see citing works
Self-citationSuárez-Albela, M., Fernández-Caramés, T., Fraga-Lamas, P., & Castedo, L. (2017) · Sensors · doi:10.3390/s17091978 · Cited by 125 · see citing works
Self-citationBlockchain-based Mutual Authentication Security Protocol for Distributed RFID Systems
Wang, S., Zhu, S., & Zhang, Y. (2018) · 2018 IEEE Symposium on Computers and Communications (ISCC) · doi:10.1109/iscc.2018.8538567 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
- Authors
- Fraga-Lamas, P., & Fernandez-Carames, T. M.
- Venue
- 2017 IEEE International Conference on RFID (RFID)
- Publisher
- IEEE
- Published
- 2017-05
- Pages
- 30-35
- ISSN
- 2374-0221 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2625973858
- Cited by
- 34
- References
- 7
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 3
- FWCI
- 8.43
- Type
- conference paper
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- IEEE International Conference on RFID (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Media Technology › RFID technology advancements
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computer Networks and Communications › Advanced Authentication Protocols Security
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › Cryptographic Implementations and Security
- Keywords
- RFID security, reader-tag communication
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