So many people have raised the issue of RFID security that it’s practically common knowledge, even among technophobes, that they are easily cracked. Verayo has announced an augmented RFID chip with “Physical Unclonable Functions” (I don’t know whether PUF is pronounced “puff” or “poof,” either way it’s hilarious). PUFs are, I’m guessing, unique IDs that are physically imprinted somewhere within the chip — the idea being that a clone of the chip would have to share that physical component as well.
Now, if there’s anything I’ve learned about security, it’s that there’s always a soft spot somewhere in the system. It could be fundamental like the original flavor easy-to-clone RFID chips, or it could be the guy next to you watching you type your password. Either way, hackers will get around whatever barriers you set down. It’s a never-ending battle, but we shouldn’t let that dim the value of something like this Vera chip — assuming it works.