RFID Zapper

This is an interesting demonstration project: a hand-held device that disables passive RFID tags.

There are several ways to deactivate RFID-Tags. One that might be offered by the industries are RFID-deactivators, which will send the RFID-Tag to sleep. A problem with this method is, that it is not permanent, the RFID-Tag can be reactivated (probably without your knowledge). Several ways of permanently deactivating RFID-Tags are know, e.g. cutting off the antenna from the actual microchip or overloading and literally frying the RFID-Tag by placing it in a common microwave-oven for even very short periods of time. Unfortunately both methods aren’t suitable for the destruction of RFID-Tags in clothes: cutting off the antenna would require to damage the piece of cloth, while frying the chips is likely to cause a short but potent flame, which would damage most textiles or even set them on fire.

The RFID-Zapper solves this dilemma. Basically it copies the mircowave-oven-method, but in a much smaller scale. It generates a strong electromagnetic field with a coil, which should be placed as near to the target-RFID-Tag as possible. The RFID-Tag then will recive a strong shock of energy comparable with an EMP and some part of it will blow, most likely the capacitator, thus deactivating the chip forever.

An obvious application would be to disable the RFID chip on your passport, but this kind of thing will probably be more popular with professional shoplifters.

Tags: , , ,

Posted on January 4, 2006 at 6:35 AM • 82 Comments

Comments

Tank • January 4, 2006 7:34 AM

Er… how’s the price of this EMP producing microwave device compare to the $7 hammer I already own ?

Alex • January 4, 2006 7:39 AM

An obvious application would be to disable the RFID chip on your passport

Which would be remarkably silly since it will almost certainly invalidate the passport. IMHO most of the concerns with RFID passports are solved by the introduction of the key inside the cover preventing snooping which has now been adopted by a number of the EU governments.

Tank • January 4, 2006 7:39 AM

Come to think of it I’ve got a cordless drill here too. I thought RFID was about wireless authentication and not some breakthrough in indestructible electronics. Is making electronics stop functioning some big challenge ? Because if there’s some grant money involved I could kick that things butt 1001 different ways by tomorrow.

noledge • January 4, 2006 7:45 AM

guys, think about observation and such stuff. disabling (future) rfid-tags might be a good idea to get some privacy. furthermore: the rfid-tags in passports are unsecure.

@tank: very cheap, if you look at the linked page how this thing is built. probably cheaper than your hammer.

dlg • January 4, 2006 7:50 AM

@Alex: The key inside the cover is nominally 56 bits, but its entropy is far lower, since it consists of birthdate, passport number, etc., all interdependent. The major change that makes these RFID passports more or less harmless is the shielding, as to make them unreadable when closed, not that key.

Invalidating your passport would not be such a bad idea, depending on liability. If enough people invalidate their passports, administration might think twice before rolling out more and mroe useless technology where simple (and harder to defeat) stuff would have done just as well.

@Tank: No grants involved. That result came from the CCC congress in Berlin. All unpaid people there, working for free. And it’s a useful result, too. Not only for thieves.

Mike Sherwood • January 4, 2006 8:36 AM

In any large organization, it is impossible to teach them a lesson. Group think rarely thinks once, so it’s a fallacy to believe they might think twice. There are too few people who actually understand why they are doing their little piece of the puzzle. If they find out people are intentionally disabling the tags, the more likely response is to push for a new law making that illegal. After all, you can legislate reality away, right?

Don’t underestimate the stupidity that people will accept in the name of a little more security (theatre). I wouldn’t be the slightest bit surprised if a disabled RFID tag would be considered altering the passport and already be a crime, or if someone would see comments like those here and push for a law to make it illegal. There don’t have to be any actual instances of people intentionally killing their RFID tag to create a law that presumes guilt in the case of a nonfunctional tag and puts the burden on the passport holder to prove that they did not intentionally disable it.

mcr • January 4, 2006 8:39 AM

@alex & dlg
The German Passport at least will not be affected by a deactivated RFID.
Officials always said, it will be valid even without the chip working.
This is needed, as these passports need to be valid for ten years, while the keys on the chip may not.

Ed T. • January 4, 2006 8:42 AM

“Invalidating your passport would not be such a bad idea, depending on liability. If enough people invalidate their passports, administration might think twice before rolling out more and mroe useless technology where simple (and harder to defeat) stuff would have done just as well.”

More likely, they’ll just pass a law that makes disabling the RFID chips a felony offense, and if you found with a single-use camera you will be subject to “rendering” as a possible terrorist. Almost certainly you would not be allowed to enter the USofA with such a passport.

-EdT.

-EdT.

Ed T. • January 4, 2006 8:45 AM

“An obvious application would be to disable the RFID chip on your passport”

I see another obvious application — make it strong enough, and it would disable the on-board computer chip on the car that road rage-fueled maniac that just cut you off (while flipping you both middle fingers) is driving. I could certainly use one! 😉

-EdT.

dlg • January 4, 2006 9:15 AM

@Mike Sherwood, EdT: You are right, that’s what I meant with “depending on liability”. In fact, since the passport is usually the property of the issuing authority, it is quite likely that this practice would not be lawful right now.

Bruce Schneier • January 4, 2006 9:33 AM

“Er… how’s the price of this EMP producing microwave device compare to the $7 hammer I already own ?Er… how’s the price of this EMP producing microwave device compare to the $7 hammer I already own ?”

Certainly more expensve. What you’re paying for is the lack of visible damage to the chip

Bruce Schneier • January 4, 2006 9:34 AM

“Which would be remarkably silly since it will almost certainly invalidate the passport.”

The U.S. says that it will, certainly. But we don’t yet know what will happen if you walk into the country with an otherwise valid passport and a not-working but visibly undamaged chip. I do not believe they will turn you away. (I suppose it partly depends on how reliable the chips turn out to be.)

AndrewS • January 4, 2006 9:39 AM

The CCC web site has a self-signed certificate, which is fine, but how would I go about verifying it?

I guess one way would be for Mr. Schneier to use his key, if it’s publicly available (and verifiable?), to sign CCC’s certificate.

Mostly just curious.

Adam • January 4, 2006 10:11 AM

If the goal is to get the zapper as close to the chip as possible, how should one find chips? Is there an equivallent cheap reader?

Anonymous • January 4, 2006 10:18 AM

@ AndrewS: “how would I go about verifying it?”

I don’t think the certificate is there in order for you to verify the site. Note that the page linked to is on a wiki, and that the wiki doesn’t let you edit pages without logging on. So the people who need to verify the certificate are primarily those who want to edit the wiki without worrying that they’re being man-in-the-middled by somebody who wants to snoop their logon details or whatever.

To answer your question, though, you need to find a way for someone you trust to tell you the certificate’s fingerprint (or send you a complete copy) via an authenticated communication.

So for example, suppose you recognise the voice of one of the CCC organisers. Then you can just phone them up and ask them to read it out to you – authentication is by biometric (“sound of voice”, trust is because a CCC organiser represents the organisation you’re trying to verify. This is how I’m guessing most of the users of the wiki will do it – they’ll know an event organiser who has told them the fingerprint (by phone, PGP-signed message, or whatever).

If you don’t know an organiser, you can try to find a way to identify one (for example, if you get several independent reports of the CCC’s phone number, you could call them and hope the Black Hats don’t somehow intercept your call).

If you can’t do that, you could maybe find someone you know and who knows an organiser and get them to tell you how to securely communicate with the organiser. This is basically how the PGP “web of trust” works.

steve • January 4, 2006 10:57 AM

Disabling shouldn’t be so hard, finding them could be harder. Does anybody know of a “RFID Finder”, possibly also detecting “sleeping” RFID-chips?

winsnomore • January 4, 2006 11:09 AM

Isn’t this a bogus claim of safety wrapped in EMP jargon.

Unless the RFID tag is enclosed in an explosion proof package, the “blowing” some part of the chip is probably more dangerous than microwave frying.

Andrew • January 4, 2006 11:36 AM

I think the point here (well, besides facilitating shoplifting) is to destroy the RFID chip in an ID card in a non-obvious way. “Why, no officer, I have no idea why my passport doesn’t work in your reader.” Having a hole drilled through your ID card makes it rather obvious you are up to something. A fried chip (especially in documents that are suppoed to last for several years) might be a rare, but not unknown, occurance.

It does seem likely that trying to use a passport with an, even accidentally, damaged chip, would land you (quite reasonably) in the more rigorus search line at the airport, and is thus likely useless for, say, a terrorist, or anybody in a hurry. Its probably most useful for preventing you from being the victim of a bomb triggered by N nearby RFID tags, or the secret police’s next universal pedestrian monitoring system to compliment the universal automobile plate readers.

Clive Robinson • January 4, 2006 11:45 AM

In the UK certain RFIDs have a bad press due to low reliability.

If you have a look at the “Pet Pasport” scheam there are people with dogs that have been chipped as much as 5 times to ensure that one of them works.

I actually know someone who has had three chips put in their dog sofar all of which appeared to work when in the vets but two of which have later failed for whatever reason (they don’t like the idea of their dog been chopped up to get the chips back to send away for testing and I for one can’t say as I blaim them for that).

Likewise the chips used in trials for “Farm Animals” movment control have likewise proved to be a little bit dodgy.

FunWithEMP • January 4, 2006 11:56 AM

“The RFID-Tag then will recive a strong shock of energy comparable with an EMP and some part of it will blow…”

Cool. Pretty soon we can all have our own little EMP generator. Great for parties or when you just want to go around destoying RFID tags or any other electronic gear in the vicinity. First there was the TV zapper, now the RFID zapper.

dennis • January 4, 2006 12:18 PM

“Don’t Catholics want to hasten the end of the world?”…Offtopic, but the issue for fundamentalists is that according to Revelations, people who let themselves get numbered are damned.

another_bruce • January 4, 2006 12:52 PM

regarding neutralizing rfid’s in a microwave oven and the risk of your clothes catching fire, can’t you just immerse the garment in water first? sure the water will block some of the energy and it will take longer, but it’s better than your pants on fire in your kitchen.

David Stidolph • January 4, 2006 12:53 PM

I would think the most obvious use would actually be criminal. RFID tags are being used on merchandise more and more – detectors on doors to stores will detect them and sound an alarm when the item is being removed without being purchased. Fry the RFID tag and you make it easier to shoplift.

I know stores are not currently using them, but give them time – they will be.

Lollardfish • January 4, 2006 1:06 PM

Offtopic but I expect my priest will forgive me:

  • “My question: Don’t Catholics want to hasten the end of the world?”

No. Most Catholics aren not actively striving to bring about the apocalypse. Many are, however, looking for signs of the end and acting accordingly. This is even more common among many strains of American evangelical protestantism.

Given the power of apocalyptic discourse in the American far right, I feel it’s important not to conflate.

aikimark@aol.com • January 4, 2006 4:35 PM

This technology would open up attacks against corporations that heavily rely on RFID technology. At the forefront of RFID roll-out is WalMart. I could see some attempt by other retailer competitors to disrupt WalMart’s RFID-based inventory control.

It might also be a tool of anarchists and (techno-) hooligans.

EMP technology in the hands of malicious folks (corporations and governments are included in this list) is a very real weakness of our cyber society.

EMP is certainly another attack vector.
1a. invalidate badges of security staff and then raise intruder alarms.
1b. guards either can’t get to the intruders because their badges no longer work or the security system has to be inactivated to allow the guards access (without badges).

  1. extort money from companies by threatening their data centers with an EMP-based disruption. Note: most buildings’ walls do not protect against EMPs.

  2. start disrupting some RFID-based convenience, such as speedpay, and start a (false) rumor that the customer’s data has been compromised if their RFID chip no longer works.

Dom De Vitto • January 4, 2006 5:03 PM

You have all missed a cute secutity system DoS attack.
1) Attach the wiper near the front door of a office block.
2) Sit back ad watch as people can’t get in.
3) If you fancy, walk in when the door is jammed open, or a security guard has to manually check the plastic ID cards, which you can easily forge.

Lucky I’m a good guy…… 🙂

Bruce Schneier • January 4, 2006 6:07 PM

The above (below, if you’re reading this on the “100 Latest Comments” page) is an example of what I like to call a “default to less secure” system. There are examples of it everywhere. For example, when the on-line credit card verification system fails, stores take your credit card without those security checks.

Roger • January 4, 2006 6:11 PM

In Australia, the issue of a damaged passport RFID seems to be already covered by the same regulations that cover damaged photographs etc. in non-electronic passports. There is some discretion allowed for officials but basically you may have your passport confiscated and then may be treated as someone re-entering the country without a passport, i.e. you will be searched thoroughly, interrogated, and held in detention until your citizenship is definitely established. Additionally, you will have to pay the replacement cost for the damaged document, which depends on how many times this has happened to you but can be hundreds of dollars. Finally, if it is proved that you did it deliberately (something probably more likely on the second, third etc. time this happens), it is a criminal offence with a maximum of ten years’ imprisonment, a fine of $110,000, or both. So you really do NOT want to go zapping the RFID in your passport, you would be better off just burning the whole thing and reporting it stolen (which is still expensive, but less risk of prison time).

As for setting fire to clothes by microwaving them: I have sometimes dried damp clothes by microwaving them. There is a risk of scorching (particularly right in the middle of the pile) if you get distracted and seriously overdo it, but if you do it in bursts of 30 seconds and check them between each “zap” it works fine. (I don’t do it with clothes with metal parts, though.) I doubt that an RFID chip could stand even 10 seconds in a microwave oven.

Ted Demopoulos • January 4, 2006 6:46 PM

A disposable camera is big – I’d rather have one in a (working) ball point pen. Battery size would be the main limiting factor I’m guessing.

Then again, I can only imagine zapping RFID chips in things I own so size doesn’t matter, but smaller would be cooler.

I’d also imagine it would be quite possible to build long range devices using directional antennas and attack the nearest store etc.

Isn’t technology great . . .

aikimark • January 4, 2006 8:33 PM

@Roger,

One way to think of this threat would be one of a miscreant zapping the passport RFIDs of other passengers.

Alternatively, zapping the passport of one person (victim) repeatedly until they were fined and incarcerated would be one way to harass someone. There’s no need to personally harm or threaten them when you can get the state to bankrupt and imprison them with no evidence linking you with the crime. I’m really shocked that the Australian government would facilitate such crimes.

One crime that may be perpetrated by this technology in the future would be to bet against a visitng sports team and hinder their arrival into a country by invalidating their passports’ RFIDs. Thusly shortening their practice sessions and distracting them from the competition.

James • January 4, 2006 8:42 PM

@Roger: So we can extort money from Australian tourists by telling them that if they don’t pay the “ransom” we will destroy the RFID tag in their passport on the spot.

Any government that condems it’s citizens because of a lack of forethought on the government’s part is questionable at best. I’m not suggesting that the US is any better. I’m sure they will follow the same “logic”. I’m simply saying that it makes no sense to punish someone else because you selected defective technology. Why should I spend 10 years in jail and pay $100K just because I stood too close to a leaky microwave in a 7-11 (24 hour market)?

Davi Ottenheimer • January 4, 2006 8:48 PM

“cutting off the antenna would require to damage the piece of cloth”

I don’t think that’s accurate. It might increase risk, but actual damage is not required for most cloth or other porous materials. I’ve snipped the antenna with the edge of a razor or a safety pin poked in the right spot.

“when the on-line credit card verification system fails, stores take your credit card without those security checks”

I hate when that happens, but to be fair the checks and verification work both ways. I mean the merchant can take on more risk than the consumer since the security checks to protect the cardholder should still be in place, while the company taking the card can lose the ability to prove authorization. The risk still seems marginal enough (less than 1% in high volume) so most of us would probably still take the chance, and thus the default-allow position…

Ari Heikkinen • January 4, 2006 10:09 PM

The idea here is to destroy the chip so that no one can prove you did it on purpose. If you used a hammer they’d instantly see it’s broken on purpose, but with anything that overloads the chip thru its antenna you can simply play dumb and no one could tell you did it on purpose.

If anyone’s going to refresh their old electronics hobby now’s the time. The best thing to do would be to experiment with anything that can damage those RFID chips which shouldn’t be (and shouldn’t have been) installed in anything that requires security in the first place.

dave • January 4, 2006 10:28 PM

“This technology would open up attacks against corporations that heavily rely on RFID technology. At the forefront of RFID roll-out is WalMart. I could see some attempt by other retailer competitors to disrupt WalMart’s RFID-based inventory control.

It might also be a tool of anarchists and (techno-) hooligans.

EMP technology in the hands of malicious folks (corporations and governments are included in this list) is a very real weakness of our cyber society.

EMP is certainly another attack vector.”

I would suggest that if an RFID tag is so blatantly open to any number of relatively simple and cheap attacks, then perhaps it is the use of such tags in a security context that is the threat, rather than the various technologies that defeat it.

jammit • January 4, 2006 11:38 PM

How about an EMP device that could be smaller than a pen. Those piezo electric starters for gas grills (barbies), hooked up to a diode and a HV cap, and then dump the cap into a coil with an air gap that avalanches at a certain voltage. Keep clicking until the gap arcs over. Just have a good cover story to cover all of that clicking noise.
RFID isn’t the mark of the beast, but it certainly isn’t the best and/or only secure identity verification. Having that thing always set on broadcast may not be a bad thing, but it certainly isn’t good. I still want an on/off switch, and if there is no switch, then I’ll make one for it.

Roger • January 5, 2006 12:22 AM

@aikimark , James:
Interesting scenarios. I’m not advocating this position, just reporting that it appears to be the current state of the law.

BTW, this is what is likely to happen if you try to enter the country under a defaced passport. If it happens accidentally or maliciously whilst still overseas, you can simply report it to the nearest consulate and get a new passport issued. You would still have to pay the replacement passport cost (which increases every time you do it), but no detention etc. Oh, and note that the criminal sanctions only apply if it is proved that you defaced it deliberately. Thus the “sabotage the sports team” scenario could work, but I don’t think the “ransom” model would, and you’re not going to prison for standing near a leaky microwave oven (maybe to hospital, though!)

Personally, I’m hunting around for some sort of elegantly engraved brass or stainless steel case, sturdily built, just the right size to hold a passport (88 mm x 125 mm), and hermetically sealed when closed. Should be easy to get nearly 100 dB of attenuation at passport RFID freqs if the walls are nice and thick and the sealing is hermetic. It will protect my passport from snoops, EMP, accidental immersion, gnawing insects, and rough usage alike. A cigarette case would be ideal but so far I’ve determined that even “Super King size” cigarette cases are slightly too short, while cigar cases all seem to be non-metallic.

Volker • January 5, 2006 12:40 AM

Personally, I’m hunting around for some sort of elegantly engraved brass or stainless steel case
Wouldn’t those conducting plastic bags for harddisks or graphics cards work?

Roger • January 5, 2006 2:47 AM

@Volker:
“Wouldn’t those conducting plastic bags for harddisks or graphics cards work?”

Maybe, maybe not. The degree of attenuation depends on the thickness of the conducting layer, and even with aluminium foil, a single layer of the cheaper grades is getting a bit marginal. With anti-static bags, the conductive layer is so thin it doesn’t even completely stop visible light!

But anyway, it’s not what I want. I don’t want something jury-rigged that will make me look like a loony if I have to pull out my passport at a client’s office, I want something sturdy and stylish. I also want it to protect the passport from physical abuse as well as RF effects.

John Davies • January 5, 2006 9:10 AM

“Cool. Pretty soon we can all have our own little EMP generator. Great for parties or when you just want to go around destoying RFID tags or any other electronic gear in the vicinity. First there was the TV zapper, now the RFID zapper.”

Ooh yes please. That would fix those anti-social types who have their iPods at an annoyingly high volume on the train.

aikimark • January 5, 2006 9:29 AM

If EMP weapons become commonplace or easily attainable, we’ll have much bigger problems. For instance
* people ‘wargaming’ electronic equipment to zap, rather than open WiFi zones. Think homes and coffee shops.
* people zapping automobiles playing very loud music (thumping bass)
* criminals that zap a vehicle in order to rob/assault the driver
* criminals that zap police cars prior to a crime, during a car chase. Anarchists might just zap every police car they encounter.
* airspace near airports suddenly might become much more dangerous. Fortunately, I think most passenger jets are capable of handling a direct lightning strike.
* criminals zapping home alarm systems prior to breaking in.

PerfDave • January 5, 2006 11:04 AM

The thought of using EMP weapons to “zap” most electronics is probably wrong – if I remember rightly, car engines etc. won’t be affected because the metal of the car body acts as a Faraday cage. However, implementing Faraday cages in a box of cornflakes would be prohibitively expensive.

However, if this did become a danger, then perhaps the Mylar-based RFID-blocking wallet previously mentioned here could become useful for Joe Citizen to protect their passports from RFID zappers?

FunWithEMP • January 5, 2006 1:10 PM

I wonder if the EMP we are discussing is the next terrorist plot threat or if this is just more movie plot threats.

This could come as small scale attacks as being discussed here, or perhaps a large scale attack. Will the next terrorist attack be some massive EMP strike against a large city, shutting down all electronic devices, leaving the city in chaos and the citizens fearing for their lives?

I seem to recall a number of movies that use EMP. In most cases though (at least in the movies), the EMP affects are only temporary. For example, in the movie “Oceans 11” the “glorified” criminals detonate an EMP device from a van which shuts down most of Las Vegas, but everything seems to be back to normal shortly afterward.

I suppose that military electronics would be shielded from EMP. If I remember correctly from college electronics classes, Gallium Arsenide chips are unaffected by EMP, and most mission critical military electronics use such chips. Although, lately, the military seems to be using more “off the shelf” electronics (i.e. laptops, etc.), that may not have the protection from EMP.

Anonymous • January 5, 2006 4:24 PM

“Will the next terrorist attack be some massive EMP strike against a large city, shutting down all electronic devices, leaving the city in chaos and the citizens fearing for their lives?”

Well, I’d prefer an EMP attack instead of a bomb actually killing people any day.

Anonymous • January 5, 2006 4:48 PM

Seems to me it’d be handy to combine the use of an RFID Zapper with an RFID scanner to confirm the kill. Maybe have the Zapper at one end, then flip it over for the scanner. After all, it’d kinda suck if you thought you’d neutralized the device, only to have it chirping happily away.

Me • January 9, 2006 3:40 PM

For what it is worth, I was putting a pair of Old Navy jeans on my kid and I noticed a white pouch that said “Remove before wearing”. Guess what I found inside? RFID. So they have been seen in the wild.

Peaceinternally • January 31, 2006 4:08 PM

If you take a look at a newer $20 (usa) bill, you will notice the color is actually from concentric circles printed on the bill, I just thought that a nano chip rfid tag could be at the center and the concentric circles are the antenna.

Scarry Heh!

zii • May 9, 2006 11:17 AM

I’ve been travelling in and out of the US for the past 3 years and each time I get the special SSSS dance routine. Since I’m accustomed to it, I’d rather have this than have my details on a chip. Long live the $7 hammer.

Steve • May 26, 2006 12:51 PM

I am in the market to purchase a device that will kill these “very loud bass sounds” that come from passing cars in my neighborhood.
We have a city ordinace prohibiting these kinds of noices. But! just like any goverment. they’re too busy to take care of it.
So, I was wonding if theres something I can buy to zap these Bass loving freaks.
There’s time my ears hurt and all the car alarms goes off mins before you see that stupid car.
I wonder if the driver and passangers in the car will suffer in the future? Like small testilcals or no sperm count..
Sincerely,
Steve

Anonymous • June 12, 2006 12:21 PM

If you need something to protect your passport, just go to a camera shop and pick-up an x-ray bag for film or cf cards.

anyway,　Big B has already won, the best to do is make it as hard as hell for him to track you when your out.

Just wondering, but how many of you all have shopping cards and credit cards. They are nonRFID but have been tracking us for the past 20+ years.

Where there’s a will there’s a way and the Corp has bypassed the will and gone straight to the way.

RobotMeansWork • June 20, 2006 3:14 PM

Has anyone considered the power that a personal-locator provides to the citizen? When the government’s location-tracking system is sufficiently accurate, and the investigators are collecting potential witnesses to a crime for interrogation, the citizen that was not within the tracking-radius of the location of the crime can tell the cop “Go to hell! “You know I wasn’t near there!”

Seems like “power to the people” to me!
What do you think?

leo • August 15, 2006 10:55 AM

where has the original page moved? there was a manual how to build an rfid zapper, wasn’t it? 🙁

Rodney • August 22, 2006 7:36 PM

Can any one help, need to dulpicate my present RFID card. Physicaly damaged externally but still works.

Irena • November 13, 2006 5:07 PM

A few months ago I realized that I have more than 20 electronic chips illegaly inserted into my body, for example: in my stomach, intestines, uterus, both breasts, back of my head. I know for sure that there is a group of people that want to kill me using these chips. They shoot me from their cellphones causing me severe pain and some of them even hold these cellphone pionted to my chips inserted in my belly for all night when I sleep, and I wake up with severe pain in my belly. But the most dangerous are chips in my head. When somebody is shooting the chip in my head for around 15 minutes my blood presure increases from 100 to 250, and I could very easily get heart attack or stroke, and nobody knows I can survive. I think that many people don’t know they have RFID cips inserted illegaly their bodys. Thay have severe pain go to the doctor and get tilonol 3 or 4. I think is better when we first check our bodys from the RFID chips, find them and zap. I need very strongly and fast this kind of zapper that will delete all my chips from my body. If not I will be murdered by this very dengerous group of people that is specialized in killing us for many purposes.
Please help me. Ph: (519) 572-4039 Canada or e-mail me: iruchna rogers.com

Tsu Dho Nimh • January 8, 2007 4:31 PM

“Alternatively, zapping the passport of one person (victim) repeatedly until they were fined and incarcerated would be one way to harass someone. There’s no need to personally harm or threaten them when you can get the state to bankrupt and imprison them with no evidence linking you with the crime. I’m really shocked that the Australian government would facilitate such crimes.”

the government authorities responsible for inflicting RFID on the public would make rightful targets of such repeat actions.

alternatively, groups could manufacture somewhat stronger RFID-zappers and start planting them in airports (which conveniently are provided with mains power) and other places where people are likely to be found carrying passports. the idea would be to create such a high proportion of damaged devices as to render the technology useless (and the possession of a passport with a nonfunctional RFID non-suspicious).

WiskersAtCountryDeli • March 21, 2007 7:52 PM

Well my first RFID credit card showed up yesterday. AmericanExpress… Blue. At least I think it is my first card with an RFID in it.

If the card was not transparent I would not have known there was an RFID device in it. I have no idea what information it has on it or what point of sale locations have readers that need it.

Good thing I had extra aluminum foil in my hat.

Anonymous • November 6, 2007 5:52 PM

What I would like to know is how to disable an RFID chip implanted in a human. I can’t very well microwave myself. I can’t have a full body x-ray to pinpoint precisely where the chip is located. Would Radioactive iodine have any impact?
Note that I have never been charged with any felonies, only a careless driving violation. And I was ‘tagged’ while under anesthesia (during an appendectomy) without my consent.

conspiracytheorist • January 28, 2008 7:52 AM

If these devices are little WiFi RF radio computers why cant we just connect to them and alter their code? Take a legal RFID machine or some such and use it to connect to the chip itself and alter it’s script… oh say, change the id number, or the name of it’s owner, or anything stored in it. Furthermore, it makes me wonder if a RFID virus isn’t possible. Recode a single RFID chip to retransmit the virus code anytime it gets in range of another RFID chip while they both are powered up. Have the virus maintain the chips usefulness to the “authorities” while also giving us private access to the chip “for our own security”…

Marie • February 22, 2008 1:18 AM

Ive read that metal is great for messing up the frequencies. or thick metal foil,,even layers of aluminum foil.

Anomalous • February 24, 2008 2:53 AM

What I’ve heard so far, EMP does not affect living organisms and will not fry catowner’s cat. What i want to know is the range of a coil inserted into a disposable camera, emitting the electromagnetic pulse, and if a solid iron core or soft iron core in the coil would affect the outcome or strength of the device. Would you end up with a lightning creating device (tesla coil) or an EMP weapon with different elements in the coil?

curious • March 5, 2008 8:03 AM

want to disable canine rfid, cant afford removal surgery, how? small jammer or a long term wrecker? cant hit dog with hammer or microwave it

goldi • March 9, 2009 12:24 AM

all you need is a hammer…really easy… people should know the truth though this is horrible they want to put this in us theres a great movie about a lot of crappy stuff the government is doing its called zeitgeist… great movie i recommend everyone watch it…it makes sense!

Jango • April 10, 2009 10:31 AM

I got a better idea. Instead of a tool that destroys the chip. We need a tool that re-writes the information to whatever you want it to be. We could, for example, re-write the information to say we’re John Doe, or Micky Mouse with an address on 123 Disney Lane. Or just everyone with a passport get together and swap information so that the government doesn’t really know who they hell they’re tracking.

Jango • April 10, 2009 10:33 AM

Oh, and as far as the government making such tampering illegal, has anyone here ever heard of the Boston Tea Party? The American Revolution?

Doc Hollywood • May 3, 2009 6:51 AM

What about running it through an MRI (yeah it’s not for everyone but I have access to them)? I know magnets aren’t supposed to affect it but…such a strong field would shred the antenna inside the chip if it was ferrous based at all.

Tony B • March 27, 2016 11:55 AM

Why not just use a piezoelectric igniter as used in lighter or gas oven etc.. this will zap
any electrical circuit with its EHT voltage.

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