Hackers Clone E-Passports

Two RFID researchers created a video showing how an RFID reader attached to an improvised explosive device could theoretically identify a U.S. citizen walking past the reader and set off a bomb. They haven't yet tested the theory on a real U.S. passport since the documents have yet to be distributed. They still here show an attack using a prototype passport with RFID chip placed in the pocket of the victim. As the chip passes the reader, the reader detonates an explosive device placed in the trash can.

RFID on Mythbusters

Adam Savage talks why they didn't do an episode about RFID (In)Security on Mythbusters TV show.

(In)Security of RFID Credit Cards

Hacker explains how easy is it to read data from RFID chips which are integrated in newer credit cards. And he talks about risks of having unencrypted data (owner's name, credit card number, expiration date, etc.) on these chips. He uses $10 RFID reader from eBay.

Human implants

Every day people are replacing keys with RFID implants. You can do a lot things easier with RFID, than with keys. Did you ever misplace car keys? With RFID you just need to be in a range of car's RFID module and car's unlocked.

However, security experts have warned against using tags in that manners because it is really easy to read data from it with almost every RFID reader.

Someone can approach you and scan your tag without your knowledge. Then copy content your card's content to writable tag. And he could drive your car, get in your house or/and even in your workplace.

What is RFID

RFID is the use of an object (RFID tag) applied to or incorporated into a product, animal, or a person for the purpose of identification and tracking using radio waves.

About RFID

Passive RFID tags (most common): no battery, require an external power source

Active RFID tags: contain a battery, can transmit signals autonomously and can transmit over longer distances

RFID tags are used for: - passports - race timing - transportation payments - product tracking - transportation and logistics - animal identification - inventory systems - human implants - libraries

Potential risks
RFID for authenticating people is very risky due to the way you can read RFID tag. It is possible to read content of RFID tag just by passing by the person who has it implanted.

ffmpeg and x264

How to install ffmpeg with x264 codec support on Debian Lenny (5.0)?

Why is this useful? By using x264 codec rather than a FLV video format you will gain on video and audio quality.

1. We need to remove any previous ffmpeg installations.

2. Add additional repository to /etc/apt/sources.list

Open file with nano editor:

nano /etc/apt/sources.list

and add following line on the end of the file:

deb http://www.debian-multimedia.org stable main

3. Install needed libraries:

apt-get install build-essential subversion git-core checkinstall yasm texi2html libfaac-dev libfaad-dev libmp3lame-dev libopencore-amrnb-dev libopencore-amrwb-dev libsdl1.2-dev libx11-dev libxfixes-dev libxvidcore4-dev zlib1g-dev libogg-dev

4. Install x264

git clone git://git.videolan.org/x264.git
cd x264
./configure
make
sudo checkinstall --pkgname=x264 --pkgversion "1:0.svn`date +%Y%m%d`" --backup=no --default

5. Install libtheora

wget http://downloads.xiph.org/releases/theora/libtheora-1.1.1.tar.gz
tar xzvf libtheora-1.1.1.tar.gz
cd libtheora-1.1.1
./configure
make
sudo checkinstall --pkgname=libtheora --pkgversion "1.1.1" --backup=no --default

6. Install ffmpeg

svn checkout svn://svn.ffmpeg.org/ffmpeg/trunk ffmpeg
cd ffmpeg
./configure --enable-gpl --enable-version3 --enable-nonfree --enable-pthreads --enable-libfaac --enable-libfaad --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libtheora --enable-libx264 --enable-x11grab
make
sudo checkinstall --pkgname=ffmpeg --pkgversion "4:0.5+svn`date +%Y%m%d`" --backup=no --default

7. Install qt-faststart

Normal mp4 file needs to be fully downloaded before it can be played by Flash Player. qt-faststart fixes this.

Type following command from ffmpeg source directory:

make tools/qt-faststart

Example:

ffmpeg -i input.mov -acodec libfaac -ab 128k -ac 2 -vcodec libx264 -vpre hq -crf 22 -threads 0 output.mp4
./tools/qt-faststart output.mp4 output2.mp4

Now you can play output2.mp4 by any Flash player. LongTail's freeware JW Player is quite good, has many options and can play both mp4 and flv.

Now you can use ffmpeg to compress videos with x264 codec. Read more about converting video with PHP

Warning: Latest ffmpeg version has some problems with FLV format and it's impossible to convert video to .flv with it! If you need flv support try installing older version of ffmpeg (if you install it by apt-get install ffmpeg you will be able to convert to FLV but there is no x264 support).

Source: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=786095