At last week's CT Innovations Conference (Hartford, Connecticut, September 28), one security technology firm, SecureRF, was particularly well received in terms of its possibilities for RFID tag security/ authentication/ identification.

The founder, Luis Parks, presented to a panel and roomful of investors about key issues in applying RFID tags -- fraud and processing speed. For example, consider the production and distribution of medicine in vials: there's a multi-billion dollar theft/fraud problem during the process from production of drugs to the delivery to consumers.

Not only can counterfeit drugs be introduced in the delivery process (this has been noted in the general press recently as a healthcare industry problem) but RFID tags themselves can be counterfeited, presenting a seemingly valid ID but not being produced by the proper manufacturer/distributor. Drugs produced by unauthorized/offshore vendors can get, and do, get into the mix.

To get better authentication, you typically need a very long-bit security code, but the computing power on passive RFID devices means it would take minutes for each one to be identified, which is too long for a mass manufacture line.

SecureRF owns a security/ authentication method that computes identity in a time that's a linear multiple of the code length. This means orders of magnitude speed increases in identification, especially with passive RFID tags, to get authentication back down to sub-second speed.

In chatting with Mr. Parks, I found his comments about the role standards to be interesting. Where strong standards and standards bodies already exist, for example, in WIFI, then review of new (security) protocols can take years and meet strong resistance. The RFID space still is grappling with standards, however, so a superior solution has a better chance of being considered by leading-edge corporations.

Editor's note: This post was guest blogged by Scott Lichtman. Scott is owner of Vitaltouch Consulting, which combines technology, investment and business development expertise (www.vitaltouchconsulting.com). Services include helping hedge funds find and interact with subject matter experts in technology, medicine, and business operations, to gain an edge in investing.