In a proof-of-concept paper, researchers warned that the tainted radio-frequency identification microchips could corrupt RFID databases and cause major chaos at airports and supermarkets. In the United States, RFID technology has been used to track pets, collect tolls on roadways and serve as a potential replacement for UPC (Universal Product Code) bar codes, but the impact on privacy has triggered protests in some quarters.

The paper outlines several ways in which an existing middleware vulnerability could be exploited to launch malware code and simple viruses that can infect RFID tags and corrupt the database that connects to the tag reader. "No one thought this possible until now," the group said, noting that it went public with the sample viruses to convince the people in charge of RFID systems that the threat is not merely theoretical.

In one scenario outlined in the paper, the group said the RFID-augmented labels used to expedite baggage handling can be targeted by a malicious traveler to cause chaos and panic in busy airports. "Consider a malicious traveler who attaches a tiny RFID tag, pre-initialized with a virus, to a random person's suitcase before he checks it in. When the baggage-handling system's RFID reader scans the suitcase at a Y-junction in the conveyor-belt system to determine where to route it, the tag responds with the RFID virus, which could infect the airport's baggage database," the researchers explained.