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Related Question: apologies my background is not tech, does anyone have insight if "hacking" documents like this is easier or harder today as things move digita

by qwrusz 10y ago

Related Question: apologies my background is not tech, does anyone have insight if "hacking" documents like this is easier or harder today as things move digital? Ignoring paper passports for a moment, as records move to digital over physical paper, will adding or removing names become easier or harder? Thinking of the guy who was able to fake a first class lounge airplane ticket: https://mic.com/articles/150812/this-guy-figured-out-how-to-hack-his-way-into-fancy-airport-lounges#.104VAW7IG https://mic.com/articles/150812/this-guy-figured-out-how-to-... TL;DR what is harder vs. easier: paper ID forgery or digital ID forgery?

tibbetts 10y ago
It should get harder in general. But when people screw up the security of their design and then still blindly trust technology (like boarding passes), it is easier to pass a forgery.
zigzigzag 10y ago
Modern passports have an NFC chip in them which holds a digitally signed version of the passport data. Some of them are more sophisticated chips that are also uncloneable (but not all of them). Even the basic form of the chip prevents the creation of entirely fictional passports, assuming the integrity of the official passport issuing infrastructure. My understanding is that modern passport fraud therefore tends to be based on stealing passports on demand from someone who looks like the client, and/or forging passports that aren't protected by the chip.
- deleted 10y ago
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- throwaway049 10y ago
  I second this. I have interviewed a substantial number of people in London who entered the UK on someone else's passport (sometimes rented not stolen). I also noted when travelling into the UK with someone who holds a UK Biometric Residence Permit that no use was made of the biometric data: The border agent just looked at the photo and at the person the old fashioned way.
orsenthil 10y ago
Back then, and even now "people" are the weakest link is security. If we have to target the weakest link for our purposes, it would be people.

by qwrusz 10y ago

tibbetts 10y ago

It should get harder in general. But when people screw up the security of their design and then still blindly trust technology (like boarding passes), it is easier to pass a forgery.

zigzigzag 10y ago

Modern passports have an NFC chip in them which holds a digitally signed version of the passport data. Some of them are more sophisticated chips that are also uncloneable (but not all of them). Even the basic form of the chip prevents the creation of entirely fictional passports, assuming the integrity of the official passport issuing infrastructure. My understanding is that modern passport fraud therefore tends to be based on stealing passports on demand from someone who looks like the client, and/or forging passports that aren't protected by the chip.

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
throwaway049 10y ago
I second this. I have interviewed a substantial number of people in London who entered the UK on someone else's passport (sometimes rented not stolen). I also noted when travelling into the UK with someone who holds a UK Biometric Residence Permit that no use was made of the biometric data: The border agent just looked at the photo and at the person the old fashioned way.

orsenthil 10y ago

Back then, and even now "people" are the weakest link is security. If we have to target the weakest link for our purposes, it would be people.