A security protocol for RFID traceability

Summary Nowadays, traceability represents a key activity in many sectors. Many modern traceability systems are based on radio‐frequency identification (RFID) technology. However, the distributed information stored on RFID tags involves new security problems. This paper presents the traceability multi‐entity cryptography, a high‐level data protection scheme based on public key cryptography that is able to protect RFID data for traceability and chain activities. This scheme is able to manage entities with different permissions, and it is especially suitable for applications that require complex Information Systems. Traceability multi‐entity cryptography avoids industrial espionage, guarantees the information authenticity, protects the customer privacy, and detects malicious alterations of the information. In contrast to the state‐of‐the‐art RFID security schemes, the proposed protocol is applicable to standard RFID tags without any cryptographic capability, and it does not require a central database.