RFID goes to war

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RFID

I was over there during the first Gulf War, worked in logistics.

First the good part of RFID.

Let me tell you, we had entire shiploads of equipment (food, furniture, computers, vehicles, TANKS) that got misplaced and we never found them until 6 months AFTER the war ended.
RFID would have been a GODSEND if we'd had it. It would have enabled us to do a far better job of putting the right resources with the right people at the right time.

Now the bad part of RFID.

Yeah, RFID doesn't work through water or metal very well. You ever try getting radio reception in a big metal building you know what I mean.

However, what happens when the BAD GUYS start using RFID to find where our supplies are moving? This sets supplies up as more easily found targets for destruction or appropriation. Imagine an enemy wanting to know if we have supplies and how much in an area. Pull in the RFID on anything within 10 miles and he knows where, what, and how much. Do it several times over a time span and you can even get desination and ETA information. Prevention of this problem will require encryption of signals and special programming to prevent RFID from transmitting unless it receives a particular authorization code - all of which increases cost, size, complexity, and energy consumption of the transmitters.

Posted by: Dr_Zinj   Posted on: 03/25/04 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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