Cryptographic 'Tag of Everything' Could Protect Supply Chain

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Cryptographic 'Tag of Everything' Could Protect Supply Chain
MIT News
Rob Matheson
February 20, 2020

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers have created a cryptographic identity tag that can be attached to virtually any product in order to verify its authenticity. The millimeter-sized "tag of everything" operates on low levels of power from photovoltaic diodes, and transmits data via a power-free backscatter technique. The tag employs algorithm optimization to run an elliptic curve cryptography scheme to ensure secure communications that requires little power. MIT's Mohamed I. Ibrahim said, "We think we can have a reader as a central hub that doesn't have to come close to the tag, and all these chips can beam-steer their signals to talk to that one reader."