While I haven’t heard of any Singapore RFID-enabled passports being cloned yet, I did hear that all you need is a good crack of the hammer to prevent the RFID chip from ever working, thereby preventing the hack. That’s unless the RFID has already been sniffed and cloned while being mailed. In truth, its no better security than magnetic strips on credit cards (encrypted or not), except that being RFID requires no physical contact. Which makes me think that if you travel a lot, Paraben’s anti-RFID Passport StrongHold Holder could be just the security you need. Or you could make your own simple anti-RFID wallet using aluminum foil and duct tape.
Given how hi-tech identity and information theft has gotten these days, using hi-tech in ID security is like using a steel hammer against a steel wall – it tends to backfire. Maybe we should stick to low-tech for certain things.
Yeah, I look forward to doing that with my new passport when it’s time for me to renew. And given news like this: http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/index.cfm?newsid=8603 I am going to be absolutely sure to do it to my UK passport asap.