Home Office denies e-passports can be faked
Kablenet.com
Published: 07 Aug 2008 09:00 BST
The Home Office has rejected claims made by The Times newspaper that Dutch researchers have been able to fake microchipped UK passports.
A spokesperson for the Home Office told GC News that no-one has yet been able to demonstrate that they are able to change data within the passport chip, which stores the passport holder's photo and personal details.
"If any data were to be changed, modified or altered, it would be immediately obvious to the reader," the spokesperson said.
The Times claimed that tests have exposed security flaws in the microchips. The newspaper stated that the chips can be cloned and manipulated within minutes, and accepted as genuine by the computer systems used at border controls.
Dutch researchers commissioned by the newspaper cloned the chips on two UK passports and added images of Osama bin Laden and a suicide bomber. Passport-reader software, used by the International Civil Aviation Organization, accepted the forged passports as genuine.
The newspaper stated that the flaws undermine government claims that 3,000 blank passports stolen last month are worthless because they cannot be used for forgery.
The UK introduced e-passports with microchips in 2006 in response to increasing threats from terrorism and identity fraud. The photograph, held on the chip as well as on the printed document, can be used to link a person to a passport at border controls, as well as to verify the image on a passport-renewal application against images held on record.
The Home Office refers to the e-passport as a "biometric passport", although UK passports have carried photographs — the only biometric used so far — for nearly a century.
"We take security and privacy very seriously, which is why the British biometric passport meets international standards as set out by International Civil Aviation Organization," said the Home Office spokesperson. "We remain confident that it is one of the most secure passports available."
The spokesperson added that the Home Office is continuing to invest in biometric technology and enhanced security measures to help ensure that passport security is maintained.
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