Xbox got hacked, so will ID cards

The debate surrounding government ID cards continues. In August it emerged that Adam Laurie hacked into the government planned ID card and changed its data to entitle the holder to state benefits. Laurie even claimed he'd inserted the information "I'm a terrorist – shoot on sight."

It's no wonder the UK government were so quick to jump on the story as nonsense. It isn't hackable! They said. There's no way you can do that to our unshakable smartcard! They proclaimed. Nevertheless there doesn't seem to be much evidence that the Government is taking these 'anything but insignificant' security issues seriously. When someone claims they've hacked your unhackable device, it's probably worth the effort to investigate.

It's well known that smart card technology is cheap and easy to get your hands on. How long will it take before a black market industry begins to fall over itself to hack the government issued ID cards. There will be huge money in selling criminally produced identities and with nothing being unhackable – every top security expert knows this. So what direction can the Government take to help them stop haemorrhaging more money into what appears to be a dead scheme?

eBay is already rife with smart card paraphernalia, you can pick up a smart card reader and writer for £14.00. Second to that, the internet is awash with forums and communities dedicated to hacking and cracking anything claiming to be uncrackable. If the past is anything to go by, there hasn't been a system yet that hasn't been cracked in time – how long do the government seriously think they'll last? MIT student Andrew Huang hacked the Xbox inside of two months and it took eight days to crack the HD DVD encryption. The incentives are much higher to crack ID cards, so mark my words. They'll be hacked to death in a matter of days.