Chapter 4 Case Study: Is Your Passport Secure?

1. What type of security breaches of medical record are commonly today?

Answer:

All new passports will contain the RFID feature the tiny chip, embedded in the back cover of the passport, contains in digital form the same information printed on the biographical page of the passport: the person’s name, date of birth, gender, place of birth, issue and expiration dates, and the person’s passport photo. When the e-passport is opened and placed within a few inches of a passport “reader” at a US Customs station, it reveals its information. By displaying the personal data in two forms, print and digitally, an e-passport should be much harder to alter or forge. The digital file is “locked” and unable to be changed even if accessed, the State Department says. Metallic shielding material in the cover and spine make the chip impossible to read illegally, or “skim,” unless the passport is opened, and then only from a few inches away.

2.  Why are passport cards less secure than e-passports? What types of breaches could occur with passport and EDL cards?

Answer:

As what I have read in the internet if  payment cards with RFID chips embedded in them are simultaneously more secure and less secure than traditional payment cards because if a  hacker who gets within touching distance of your unshielded Paypass card can read its data without your knowledge and  passport is secure as long as it is not opened more than a quarter of an inch. On the other hand, the card never leaves your hand. E-passports has more capabilities in terms in security it secure travel document than a conventional passport, and protect the privacy and safety of the passport holder.

3. What measures do you think federal and state governments should take to protect the privacy of individuals when issuing these electronic identity cards?

Answer:

Each state set its own rules and criteria regarding the issuance of a driver’s license or identification card, including the look of the card, what data is on the card, what documents must be provided to obtain one, and what information is stored in each state’s database of licensed drivers and identification card holders. To protect themselves against electronic identity theft by phishing, hacking or malware, individuals are well advised to maintain computer security, for example by keeping their operating system fully patched against known security vulnerabilities, running antivirus software and being cautious in their use of IT.Privacy protection laws have been introduced, or will be introduced shortly, in approximately one half of OECD Member countries (Austria, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden and the United States have passed legislation. Belgium, Iceland, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland have prepared draft bills) to prevent what are considered to be violations of fundamental human rights, such as the unlawful storage of personal data, the storage of inaccurate personal data, or the abuse or unauthorized disclosure of such data.