Tuesday September 06, 2005

Can RFID secure America's ports?

news.com :

Ocean-going cargo is the critical link in the United States' economic supply chain - as well as the most effective delivery vehicle for a terrorist-inspired weapon of mass destruction. A WMD-laden container ship entering Los Angeles, Seattle or New York would be enough to bring the entire U.S. economy grinding to a halt - whether successfully detonated or not. Alas, ocean-going cargo is also the least secure.

The combined value of U.S. exports and imports totaled $2.23 trillion in 2004, according to the World Shipping Council, a Washington, D.C., trade group representing liner shipping companies serving international trade. Roughly 11 million ocean-going cargo shipping containers are expected to be offloaded at U.S. ports this year, a number that may reach 12 million containers next year, according to council president Chris Koch.

The answer to this very real threat is to use active radio frequency identification devices, argues Gary Gilbert, senior vice president of Hutchison Port Holdings, the world's largest container port operator and a unit of Hong Kong-based conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa. A host of RFID designers and manufacturers, many backed by venture capitalists keen to invest in one of the latest VC trends - homeland security - fervently agree with Gilbert ...

- A pretty good and balanced article that highlights some of the things going on at the company I'm currently with. It mentions both the pros and cons, and also the technical and security challenges involved with using active RFID tags to secure commercial shipping.

(2005-09-06 10:34:55 SGT) [Tech] Permalink

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