Electromagnetic Measurements for Counterfeit Detection of Radio Frequency Identification Cards

We investigate a technique for counterfeit detection of high-frequency radio frequency identification (RFID) cards based on the electromagnetic characteristics of the cards rather than the digital information that they transmit. We describe a method of quantifying the electromagnetic signature of an RFID card and identify a small set of features that is sufficient to correctly classify a test set of cards. Furthermore, we show that our measurements indicate that the features most useful for distinguishing cards are contained within the reader inquiry rather than the card response, a reflection of the near-field coupling nature of the RFID transactions in ISO 14443.