I have long been a fan of RFID. I think the technology is really cool and can help streamline businesses and help raise the profit margins for well-organized companies. I like RFID’s potential but know that it’s nowhere near ready to be used for sensitive information such as passports, certificates, or credit cards. While the technology behind RFID is ultra cool (RFID embedded in fingertips to open doors, unlock PC’s, etc…) and the technology could lead to a “commerce 2.0″ type revolution/evolution (faster checkouts at grocery stores, faster pay at the pump…), the lack of thought given to securing these cards by their manufacturers brings to the forefront a very big security risk for anyone carrying RFID cards with sensitive data.

This blog post was inspired by yesterday’s Boing.tv post where they demonstrate how easy it really is to hack in to an RFID card. For as little as $8 in parts easily obtained at eBay, Pablos Holman proves how quickly and easily one can obtain the data stored on these chips.

RFID is a scary technology that I believe is being used prematurely in some respects. If you have a credit card or a passport with RFID chips embedded, I would exercise caution and do my best to disable the readibility of those chips. For example, one could easily disable the RFID chips by microwaving the chips for a few seconds. Your card should still work but the RFID functionality would obviously be disabled.

Watch the video below and use your wise judgment when considering an RFID card.