Wireless Networks and Security: RFID Case Study Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of wireless networks and RFID technology, exploring its applications, security vulnerabilities, and network design considerations. The report begins with an introduction to wireless technology and its increasing prevalence, followed by an in-depth examination of RFID technology, including its components, functionality, and various applications. It delves into the security issues associated with RFID, such as reader collision, tag removal difficulties, and the potential for unauthorized access. The report includes a case study of Liverpool Hospital, highlighting the implementation of RFID technology for blood product tracking and the benefits achieved. Furthermore, it discusses the security risks associated with Near Field Communication (NFC) and outlines approaches for network administrators to adopt and manage RFID technology effectively. The report concludes with a discussion of RFID frequencies and relevant references.

Running head: WIRELESS NETWORKS AND SECURITY
Wireless Networks and Security
Name of Student-
Name of University-
Author Note-

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Table of Contents
Section 1:........................................................................................................................1
Introduction....................................................................................................................1
Identification..................................................................................................................1
Analyzing.......................................................................................................................2
Examples and case study of RFID technology..............................................................4
Case Study- Liverpool Hospital RFID Case Study........................................................4
Other information related to RFID.................................................................................5
Section 2:........................................................................................................................6
References......................................................................................................................8

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Section 1:
Introduction
Wireless technology or communication deals with the transfer of information among
several points, which are not connected physically or by any electrical conductor. Use of
wireless technology is increasing day by day and people are becoming more dependent on
technology for improving the quality of living [1]. The wireless technology enhances the
quality of work done and makes the work easier. The most commonly used wireless
technologies include WIFI based LANs, RFID, WiGig, Bluetooth, cellular network, WMAN,
satellite and others [2]. Wireless Security is the security process that protects the network
from unauthorized access or some damage to the system or computer network is the wireless
security.
Identification
Important issues of RFID technology are-
1. The systems of RFID can be disrupted
RFID uses electromagnetic spectrums that are easy to accumulate by the use
of energy at right frequency [3]. This is not so much useful in stores but these
electromagnetic spectrums are highly in use in hospitals or in fields like
military. The RFID tags that use battery are interrupted to due to break down
of battery which hampers the system.
2. Reader Collision of RFID
When signals from more than one reader overlap, then reader collision
happens [4]. If such thing happens, the tag cannot respond to queries thata re

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simultaneous. To avoid this issues, many system uses protocol that are anti
collision.
Analyzing
Security Issues-
1. Even after the item that leaves the supply chain, the RFID tag can be read
The scanners of RFID are portable that is they cannot make any difference between
different readers [5]. The tags of RFID can be read from a minimum distance that may be a
few yard or inches. This enables a person standing some distance from the tag to know all the
belongings of the person in his purse.
2. The tags of RFID are difficult to remove
Customers face difficulty to remove the RFID tags. This is because they are very
small in size or they are inside the product which is invisible for the customers to see.
Customers are unable to remove the tags.
3. The tags of RFID can be read without the permission of the owner
The codes that are present in the belongings of the customers can be read by any
intruder as they can be read from a distance part the person. This creates a problem for
customers as others get to know what is present in their purse.
4. With high frequency antenna, RFID tags can be read from a far distance
RFID tags are made in such a way so that the tags can be read by the reader at
minimum distance between tag and reader [6]. High frequency antennas are used to read the
RFID tags from a far distance which leads to an issue.

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5. The serial number of the RFID tags are unique and can be sequenced to get the
credit card number
Products with bar codes used UPC (Universal Product Codes) that are implemented in
them used in stores that identifies the product with a unique number [13]. When a product
having RFID tag is paid with the credit card, then the credit card number is associated with
the RFID tag number that is particular. This can help the attacker to get the number of the
credit card.
Wireless Network design-
Fig: RFID Wireless Network Design
Source ([7])
The system of RFID has three parts consisting of a transponder which is known as
tag, the transceiver that is combine with the reader and the antenna for getting the signals.
The radio frequency of the radio is used by the antenna to transfer a signal to the tag which
helps to activate the tag also known as transponder [7]. When the transponder gets activated,
it sends a back signal to the antenna. The data helps to give a notification to the controller of
programmable logic that some actions are to be held. The low frequency systems of RFID
work over very short distance which is generally of six feet and a frequency of 30-500 KHz

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frequency is used. High frequency RFID tag uses about a distance of 9 feet and they are
usually more expensive than the RFID systems that work on low frequency [9]. RFID does
not need direct contact or scanning in line of sight which give san advantage to the
technology.
Examples and case study of RFID technology
Examples- There is many fields where RFID technologies are used in present days
[10]. RFID helps to secure the system where this technology is used.
 Pharmacy uses RFID chips that are embedded in the container of the drug so
that they can avert and track theft of highly expensive and rarely available
drugs.
 The Airlines that are continental used the RFID tags with the luggage of the
passengers so that they can be tracked when they are lost and also use to detect
the location of the bag is the customer plans to change the flight [11].
 The toll road of Australia used the technology of RFID so that the taxes are
collected without any person working in the toll office.
 The department of the U.S. government uses the RFID technology to track
the supply shipments of the military.
 Visa cards are the combination of RFID chips and smart cards so that
transactions can be made without using coins or cash.
Case Study- Liverpool Hospital RFID Case Study
A hospital that is located at a distance of approx 50 minute from Sydney CBD is the
Liverpool Hospital. The hospital has a bed capacity of 877 and almost 23 operation theatres.
It serves as one of the most vital health care in the western Sydney [12]. The hospital

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provides services like imaging and diagnostic, trauma care or emergency, surgeries, medical
and allied health, mental care health and ambulatory care, haematology, paediatric, cardio
care and treatment for cancer also. Before 2013 December, the hospital used hand signed out
register that is paper based for bringing products that are related to blood to and out of the
fridge of the operating theatre [8]. The staff often not maintains the register or puts an
inaccurate data in the register. It created confusion among the staffs if the blood cells that are
left unused are put back in the fridge or not within half an hour time. There also created a
problem that the blood may go to some other patients who does not need the blood. From
December 2013 onwards, the management used the technology of RFID signals to reduce the
confusion and risks of the patients. The tags of RFID were used inside the hospital to track
the location of the blood and products of blood that were needed by the patients for their
safety.
Other information related to RFID
The technology that happens behind RFID
RFID uses electromagnetic coupling or the electrostatic coupling in the portion of
radio frequency that is used to transmit signals. There is an antenna, a transponder and an
antenna for its working. The transceiver reads radio frequency and further transfers the signal
to the reader and RF tag that is used in the system [14]. The antenna contains the integrated
circuit for the transmission of the data to the reader that transforms the radio waves from the
tag into some digital data that are then passed in the systems for more analysis.
The data that are present in the RFID tag have two different parts: passive tags and
active tags. The radio frequencies that come from the reader are transmitted to their signals
by the help of passive tags. Active tags uses on board battery power to transfer the data signal

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that can be held over a large distance and also power the RAM. The active tags are much
more sophisticated than the passive tags.
RFID Frequencies
The tuning of the frequency of RFID tags is much similar to that of the tuning the
radio stations. There must be a similar frequency between the reader and the tag so that
communication can be held. Different types of frequencies are used to communicate in RFID
technology. The radio waves or the radio frequency work differently at different frequencies,
the frequency of the RFID mainly depends on the application it is used for. There are high
RFID frequency systems which can cover a distance of 90 feet and there are low frequency of
RFID that covers a distance of maximum of 6 feet.
Section 2:
I. The alarming key points that come in the case study of Near Field
Communication are firstly the risk of eavesdropping. When other intruder
comes in the way of the signal that is transmitted by the sender and receiver
and get the data or information is known as eavesdropping. A NFC uses the
contactless transfer of information; there is a huge chance of eavesdropping.
Secondly, data can be corrupted or disrupted. The attacker in this risk mainly
attacks the signal to send back wrong irreverent data or may also block the
data that is being transmitted. This type of attack is much difficult to detect.
Thirdly, the risk that comes in the way of NFC security threat is that the
attacker may act as a middle man between the receiver and the sender. The
attacker sits in the middle and sends signal to sender pretending as the signal is
from the receiver and vice versa. The risks that come next to NFC is the any
harmful application that can be downloaded in the device of NFC can send the

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data of the user’s credit card to the attacker. Mobile device has also become a
difficult issue related to security in NFC. Attackers may have the passwords
and ids of the user’s phone and can get all the bank details of the user. Another
risk that comes in the way is the android beam. It is used to transfer the
information from one device to another or from a device to a tag or vice versa.
Lastly there exists another security issue related to Nokia phones that are
enabled by NFC. These phones enable to pair Bluetooth devices automatically.
By default, pins or passwords are not required for the connection.
II. For adopting RFID technology the approaches that can be taken as a network
administrator of large organization are:
 The structure of the organization must be studied very nicely.
 As a large organization, there must be many groups of people,
each of the groups must be studied and the risk that may come
in their way.
 The technology of RFID must be very secure and used high
frequency so that any attackers may not attack the technology.
 Getting the benefits after mitigating the risks.
III. For adopting RFID technology the approaches that can be taken as a network
administrator of medium organization are:
 The RFID technology is evaluated against the strategy of the
organization.
 Getting an outline of the risk and benefits for what a change
may happen.
 To work with the external parties.
 There must be involvement of the employees.

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 The technology must be prototyped.
 A suitable RFID standard must be found.
 Testing must be done.
 The details of the plan must be documented first.

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References
[1] Amendola, Sara, Rossella Lodato, Sabina Manzari, Cecilia Occhiuzzi, and Gaetano
Marrocco. "RFID technology for IoT-based personal healthcare in smart
spaces." IEEE Internet of Things Journal 1, no. 2 (2014): 144-152.
[2] Bartholmai, Matthias, Markus Stoppel, Sergej Petrov, Stefan Hohendorf, and Thomas
Goedecke. "Two application examples of RFID sensor systems-identification and
diagnosis of concrete components and monitoring of dangerous goods
transports." ACTA IMEKO 4, no. 2 (2015): 85-89.
[3] Bibi, Fabien, Carole Guillaume, Nathalie Gontard, and Brice Sorli. "A review: RFID
technology having sensing aptitudes for food industry and their contribution to
tracking and monitoring of food products." Trends in Food Science &
Technology (2017).
[4] Boddy, Aaron, William Hurst, Michael Mackay, and Abdennour El Rhalibi. "A Study
into Detecting Anomalous Behaviours within HealthCare Infrastructures."
In Developments in eSystems Engineering (DeSE), 2016 9th International Conference
on, pp. 111-117. IEEE, 2016.
[5] Borgohain, Tuhin, and Sugata Sanyal. "Technical Analysis of Security Infrastructure
in RFID Technology." arXiv preprint arXiv:1505.00172 (2015).
[6] De Mel, Suresh, Dammika Herath, David McKenzie, and Yuvraj Pathak. "Radio
frequency (un) identification: Results from a proof-of-concept trial of the use of RFID
technology to measure microenterprise turnover in Sri Lanka." Development
Engineering 1 (2016): 4-11.

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[7] Decarli, Nicolo, Francesco Guidi, and Davide Dardari. "A novel joint RFID and radar
sensor network for passive localization: Design and performance bounds." IEEE
Journal of Selected Topics in Signal Processing 8, no. 1 (2014): 80-95.
[8] Donker, Tjibbe, Timo Smieszek, Katherine L. Henderson, Alan P. Johnson, A. Sarah
Walker, and Julie V. Robotham. "Measuring distance through dense weighted
networks: The case of hospital-associated pathogens." PLoS computational
biology 13, no. 8 (2017): e1005622.
[9] Jing, Qi, Athanasios V. Vasilakos, Jiafu Wan, Jingwei Lu, and Dechao Qiu. "Security
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(2014): 2481-2501.
[10] Liu, Yuqiao, Ariana Levitt, Christina Kara, Cem Sahin, Genevieve Dion, and Kapil R.
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Conference on, pp. 1-4. IEEE, 2016.
[11] Rosenbaum, Benjamin P. "Radio frequency identification (RFID) in health care:
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(2014): 19.
[12] Sabharwal, Ashutosh, Philip Schniter, Dongning Guo, Daniel W. Bliss, Sampath
Rangarajan, and Risto Wichman. "In-band full-duplex wireless: Challenges and
opportunities." IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications 32, no. 9 (2014):
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[13] Sari, Arif. "Security issues in RFID Middleware Systems: Proposed EPC
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