Swedish Postal Service Combats Theft with RFID Readers

The Swedish postal service Posten is using embedded radio frequency identification (RFID) technology in parcels to cut down on internal theft.

Posten, which has its headquarters in Stockholm, is testing the technology on high-value and confidential items such as mobile phones, computer equipment and government documents, as a way of detecting whether they have been tampered with.

Specially-designed cardboard packaging from Swedish technology firm Cypak contains a microscopic chip and embedded RFID circuits that can store information about the package's origin, contents and journey.

Posten uses RFID readers to enter data into the SecurePak parcel before dispatch, and then reads the data when the package has arrived at its destination to check for any suspicious activity.

Sensors detect when a package has been opened, allowing Posten to search back through supply chain data to see where the security breach has occurred.

'There are some people who are not so honest, who are opening packages and taking mobile phones or computers,' said Thord Axelsson, chief security officer at Posten.

'Using Cypak secure boxes or security tape, we can see when someone opens the package.

'There's a time stamp on a microchip which can detect whether a box has been opened or cut using a knife. This makes it much easier for our investigators to go back into the logistics chain and see where the box was at 10.50am.'

Axelsson estimates that the technology could reduce a two- week investigation to just hours.

Encryption systems in the parcel's microchip also mean that information cannot be hacked and sensors cannot be reset.

The postal service is investigating whether the technology can be extended to track mobile phones that have been stolen from packages.

'The next step may be to see how we can use the technology once the box has been opened,' said Axelsson. 'Sensors in the parcel could activate the phone so that it makes a call, or so that we could track it through the phone's GSM.'

Cypak's SecurePak technology is also being tested by Deutsche Post in Germany.