A few years ago, MIT researchers invented cryptographic ID tags, but like traditional RFID tags, they wrote, “counterfeiters could remove the tags from genuine products and reapply them to counterfeits.” . Massachusetts Institute of Technology News.
“Researchers have now overcome this security vulnerability by using terahertz waves to develop a tamper-proof ID tag that has the advantages of being small, cheap, and secure.”
Tiny metal particles are mixed into the adhesive that attaches the tag to the object, and terahertz waves are used to detect the unique patterns those particles form on the product's surface. Eunseok Lee, a graduate student in electrical engineering and computer science (EECS) and lead author of a paper on tamper-evident tags, explains that similar to a fingerprint, this random adhesive pattern is used to authenticate goods. Masu. “These metal particles are essentially like mirrors for terahertz waves. If you spread out many pieces of mirrors on a surface and shine light on them, depending on the orientation, size, and position of those mirrors, they will produce different effects. You get a reflective pattern.'But if you peel off the chip and put it back on, that pattern is destroyed,' added Ruonan Han, an EECS associate professor who heads the Terahertz Integrated Electronics Group at the Electronics Research Institute.
The researchers created a light-powered, tamper-evident tag about 4 square millimeters in size. He also demonstrated a machine learning model that helps detect tampering by identifying fingerprints with similar adhesive patterns with over 99% accuracy. Because terahertz tags are so cheap to manufacture, they have the potential to be deployed throughout large-scale supply chains. Its small size also allows tags to be attached to items that are too small for traditional RFID, such as certain medical devices…
“It's impossible to replicate these responses unless the adhesive interface is destroyed by a counterfeiter,” Han says. Vendors first read tamper-evident tags on products and store that data in the cloud, which is later used for verification. ”
The only way to prevent this appears to be to scrape away the portion of the surface the tag was on and attach the tag, adhesive, and its attachments all together to another surface. But more importantly, Han said, he wanted to demonstrate that “the applications of terahertz spectrum can go far beyond broadband wireless.”
In this case, terahertz can be used for identity, security, and authentication. There are many possibilities. ”
