How is data stored and secured on an RAIN RFID tag?

Modified on Fri, 30 Aug at 2:44 PM

There are mainly two different ways to secure data stored in a RAIN RFID tag.

Tag Memory Access Control:

UHF Gen2V2 (RAIN) tags support a password-protected lock feature that provides read or write protection to memory. The lock feature can be permanent or reversible. Depending on the memory bank that is to be protected, the memory is either both read- and write-protected, or only write-protected. For example, locking the EPC memory of a tag prevents any over-writing of the content while letting it readable. On the other hand, locking data stored in the Reserved memory bank (that contains Kill and Access passwords) prevents any over-write and read of the content.

Lock/Unlock features are based on a 32-bit Access password. In order to be efficient, this access password needs to be defined and managed carefully.

Gen2V2 standard also has a permalock feature. If engaged, permalock will make the lock status (locked or unlocked) permanent for all or part of a tag’s memory.

Encryption of Data:

This security technique is devoted to any applications that store additional data beyond an identifier on the tag that needs to be kept confidential. This mainly deals with data stored in the User memory bank. The sensitive data is encrypted before it is written to the tag. The encryption is performed by either the reader, middleware, or other enterprise software components. The tag is not required to be able to encrypt or decrypt data.

As encryption techniques are based on cryptographic keys, these need to be defined, stored and managed carefully.