Pierluigi Paganini
July 25, 2017
In April 2015, the security researcher Seth Wahl implanted an NFC Chip in his hand to bypass security scanners in a high-security environment and exploit Android mobile devices.
Wahle used the NFC chip to ping nearby Android mobile devices in the attempt to establish a direct connection.
Once established a link, the attacker can serve a malicious file that once executed by the victims could allow compromising the device. The infected phone then connects a remote server operated by Wahle, who can deliver further malicious payloads and exploits the on the mobile device (i.e. Metasploit).
This kind of attack could be very dangerous in case the attacker uses sophisticated as efficient social engineering scheme. Implanted NFC chip could easily allow bypassing perimeter defense in high-security environments, even if IoT devices (i.e. wearables devices) are not allowed.
Wahle explained that none of the military scanners he had to pass through every day while he was serving US military, was able to detect the implant.
Now the US Marketing solution provider Three Square Market (32M) has announced that it will implant microchips in voluntary employees.
The firm announced it had partnered with the Swedish biohacking firm BioHax International for offering implanted microchips to all their employees starting from August 1st.
“It’s the next thing that’s inevitably going to happen, and we want to be a part of it,” Three Square Market (32M) CEO Todd Westby told KSTP.
Three Square Market is a leader in micro market technology, it designs stores using a self-checkout kiosks.
In the official announcement, the company claims it will be the first U.S. company to offer microchip implants to its employees.
They chip are implanted between the thumb and forefinger, Westby highlighted that the data is encrypted and is managed in a secure way.
The chips will also use near-field communications (NFC) along with radio-frequency identification (RFID).
According to the company, the implanted chips would allow its employees to log into their office computers, pay for food and drink from office vending machines, open doors and use the copy machine, among other purposes.
“We foresee the use of RFID technology to drive everything from making purchases in our office break room market, opening doors, use of copy machines, logging into our office computers, unlocking phones, sharing business cards, storing medical/health information, and used as payment at other RFID terminals,” Westby said.
“Eventually, this technology will become standardised allowing you to use this as your passport, public transit, all purchasing opportunities, etc.”
While the company is about to become the first in the US to implant microchips to its employees, some European companies already made it such as the Swedish company Epicenter.
Hackers, the next move is yours!
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