1. Introduction With the development of China's market economy, the production and circulation of counterfeit and substandard products have become increasingly rampant, seriously damaging the interests of the state, collectives, consumers, and manufacturers of high-quality products. Some even directly endanger citizens' health and personal and property safety. Despite years of application of traditional anti-counterfeiting technologies, counterfeit and substandard products remain rampant, causing significant harm to manufacturers and the nation. Effectively combating counterfeit and substandard products, ensuring product safety, and establishing a product tracking and traceability system have received widespread attention. 2. RFID Makes Products Safer Traditional anti-counterfeiting technologies have many problems and cannot effectively combat counterfeit and substandard products. Furthermore, responding promptly to product problems often requires considerable effort. When everyone is at a loss, the emergence of RFID technology has brought a turning point in solving the problem. The source of counterfeit and substandard products lies in the production sector, but their proliferation occurs in the distribution sector. Therefore, establishing a secure product supply chain and a product tracking and traceability system will be a very important and challenging task. 2.1 How to make products safer The ultimate goal of any anti-counterfeiting system is to ensure that the final product—the product itself—is not a counterfeit or substandard product. The best solution is for every organization and individual involved in the supply chain to be able to accurately and quickly verify the authenticity of the product directly, like a government quality supervision bureau, such as for wine, where each bottle can be opened for verification. However, this is not realistic in the near future. So, what can be considered a safe product supply system that makes everyone believe that the product in front of them is a real and safe product? If the following three points can be achieved, we will have great confidence in the safety and authenticity of the product: (1) Credible packaging, verifying whether the packaging is authentic. (2) Integrity of packaging, ensuring that the packaging has not been opened and the product inside has not been replaced. (3) Product circulation history, ensuring that the product is handled by trusted participants throughout its life cycle. 2.1.1 Other Anti-counterfeiting Technologies Traditional anti-counterfeiting technologies, such as laser anti-counterfeiting, fluorescent anti-counterfeiting, thermochromic anti-counterfeiting, and special plate making, generally emphasize the non-counterfeitability of product packaging. However, due to their low complexity, these technologies are easily counterfeited after a period of time. Furthermore, for large quantities of goods, each item needs to be compared individually, which is too labor-intensive. SMS anti-counterfeiting, telephone anti-counterfeiting, and barcode anti-counterfeiting generally require inputting a serial number and then verifying it against a database to determine its authenticity. They also have the same problem: when verifying a large number of products in circulation, the work efficiency is very low. Moreover, these serial numbers are visible, so their security cannot be guaranteed, and they may even become a shield for counterfeit products. When product problems occur, these anti-counterfeiting measures cannot respond in a timely manner. 2.1.2 Advantages of RFID Anti-counterfeiting Technology Currently, a trend of using radio frequency identification (RFID) technology for anti-counterfeiting is gradually emerging in the international anti-counterfeiting field, and its advantages have attracted widespread attention: non-contact, multi-object, and mobile identification; simple and easy for enterprises to add anti-counterfeiting functions; almost no manual intervention required in the anti-counterfeiting process; tag data is invisible during the anti-counterfeiting process, with no mechanical wear and tear, and protection against contamination; supports bidirectional data reading and writing; combined with information encryption technology, making the tags difficult to counterfeit; easy to combine with other anti-counterfeiting technologies for anti-counterfeiting. Currently, RFID technology operating at UHF (860MHz-960MHz) has a reading and writing distance of up to 10 meters, and passive RFID tags are low-cost, thus receiving widespread attention in the field of supply chain management. The time is ripe to establish a complete supply chain and a product tracking and traceability system using RFID technology. Below, we will look at how RFID technology achieves these three points: 2.1.2.1 Trustworthy Packaging Utilizing RFID radio frequency tags with verification functions. First, because RFID tags support direct information transmission, PIG-based digital signature information can be written into the RFID tag. This digital signature strongly proves which organizations have processed the RFID tag. Second, the RFID tag can verify the reader that wants to read or write it, preventing unauthorized readers from reading its contents. Since the information is invisible, this further increases security. Using RFID technology, PIG-based digital signatures can be written into the RFID tag, raising the security level of the RFID tag verification on packaging by one level. If some unique anti-counterfeiting features are added to the RFID tag manufacturing process, the credibility of the product packaging may be further improved. 2.1.2.2 Packaging Integrity Packaging integrity refers to the fact that the packaging has not been opened and the product inside has not been tampered with. Adding an indication to the packaging that the product has not been opened, such as an indication that it is invalid after one opening, will indicate if the packaging has been opened. If an automatic packaging integrity verification function can be added, the reliability of product packaging integrity will increase to c+. Using RFID tags, the RFID tag can be deactivated after opening the packaging or the digital signature information in the RFID tag can be automatically cleared after sale, preventing the product packaging from being reused by unauthorized individuals. Therefore, the reliability of product packaging integrity will increase to B. 2.1.2.3 Product Circulation History: The product circulation history records the entire process of a product from production to distribution and use. This is equivalent to establishing a product tracking and tracing mechanism. With such a reliable record, effective monitoring of product circulation can be implemented, and rapid investigation can be carried out when product problems occur. Furthermore, recipients can review the product's circulation history and compare it with the circulation information carried in the RFID tag to confirm that the tag is not counterfeit and that the product circulates through a trustworthy organization, thus greatly improving the recipient's confidence in the product's authenticity (B). 2.1.3 Comparison of Results A comparison of participants' perceptions of product credibility before and after adopting RFID technology: A indicates the use of electronic and physical methods, extremely difficult to counterfeit, highest credibility; B indicates the use of high-tech methods and high-level verification settings, difficult to counterfeit, high credibility; C indicates low-level anti-counterfeiting settings, easy to counterfeit, or can be imitated with little effort, low credibility; O indicates no physical features or electronic information for authenticity verification, lowest credibility. 2.2 Design of RFID Anti-counterfeiting System Architecture To achieve the above objectives, we designed a solution using RFID technology operating in the UHF band: First, to ensure reliable product packaging, RFID middleware authentication is used to achieve mutual authentication between the RFID tag and the reader, releasing the restrictions on the reader; Second, a tracking and traceability database is established, maintained by government departments or a third party, recording the product's circulation history information, realizing visualized supply chain management, and responding promptly when product problems occur, as shown in Figure 1. 2.2.1 Security Analysis Between RFID Tags and Readers In an anti-counterfeiting system, the security between RFID tags and readers is a crucial element. High security must be maintained between them to prevent the following situations: (1) Unauthorized reading of RFID tags to copy and/or alter data. (2) Placing an external RFID tag within the query range of a reader in an attempt to obtain unauthorized permission. (3) Eavesdropping on radio communications and replaying data to counterfeit genuine RFID tags. To achieve the above objectives to a certain extent, anti-counterfeiting security should meet the following requirements: RFID tags and readers must mutually authenticate and encrypt data transmission. RFID tags can be permanently disabled to ensure that the tag's data cannot be read again. This protects the buyer's privacy and ensures that the packaging, once recycled, will not be used to counterfeit products. Furthermore, the establishment of the entire supply chain requires many independent organizations, and highly compatible RFID tags should be used as much as possible. 2.2.2 Mutual authentication between RFID tags and readers is achieved using exported key authentication. Currently, exported key authentication is widely used. Each RFID tag (data carrier) is protected with a different key. During the RFID tag production process, its serial number is read, and a key K is calculated using an encryption algorithm and the master key, thus completing the RFID tag initialization process. In this way, each RFID tag possesses a key associated with its own identification number and master key. Authentication process (see Figure 2: Exported key method for mutual authentication between RFID tags and readers): 1. The reader sends a password to check the ID identification number; 2. The RFID tag returns its ID identification number and a random number A. The reader calculates the mutual authentication key K based on the ID identification number and the master key. The reader generates a random number B and uses the shared key K and a shared cryptographic algorithm E to calculate an encrypted data block containing two random numbers, which is sent to the RFID tag; 3. The RFID tag decodes the data, obtains the random number A', and compares it with A. If they match, the reader is considered legitimate. The RFID tag encrypts B and sends it to the reader. 4. The reader decodes and obtains B', compares it with B, and if they match, the RFID tag is considered legitimate. 5. The two parties conduct further communication. The main disadvantages of this design are: (1) Each enterprise must use a dedicated reader; (2) Since it is impossible to control who controls the reader, the RFID tag can be easily counterfeited once the key is leaked; (3) Ordinary users must go to places with dedicated readers to view product information. 2.2.3 RFID Middleware Authentication Based on PKI In view of the above disadvantages of the authentication method of exporting keys, the following improvements were made, and a PKI-based middleware two-way authentication scheme was adopted: mutual authentication between the RFID tag and the reader is realized by the RFID middleware; the legitimate product sender (referring to the manufacturer and the designated receiver in the data carrier) designates the next receiver by specifying or modifying the receiver's public key MPK in the data carrier; only the legitimate receiver can read the information in the tag through its own middleware; after the receiver is authenticated, it can modify the public key MPK of the data tag and become a legitimate product sender. The authentication process is shown in Figure 4: ① The reader sends a query command: ② The data carrier generates a random number A, encrypts it with the receiver's public key MPK, and sends it to the middleware along with the manufacturer's identity; ③ The middleware's verification module finds the manufacturer's RFID tag's public key RPK from the public key database; ④ The middleware decrypts it with the receiver's private key MSK and generates another random number B, encrypts it with its own private key MSK, encrypts B with the RFID tag's public key RPK, and sends it to the RFID tag; ⑤ The RFID tag decrypts it with the receiver's public key MPK and gets ', then compares ' with A. If they match, the reader is considered to have passed verification. The RFID tag decrypts it with its own private key RSK and gets B', then encrypts B' with its private key RSK and sends it to the middleware; ⑥ The middleware decrypts it with its public key RPK and gets B", B is compared with B", if they are equal, the RFID tag is authenticated; then both parties transmit encrypted data. The advantages of this approach are: (1) The entire communication process is transparent to the reader, which only plays the role of transmitting data; (2) Compared to a single key, if the public key is cracked, the tag will not be forged. (3) Enterprises do not need to use dedicated readers; they only need to install middleware software with verification functions. (4) After the product is sold, the private key and digital signature information in the product are cleared, and the public key PPK is written into the tag. Consumers can use a general reader to retrieve the production and circulation information of the product through the network and a common middleware. As shown in Figure 4. 2.2.2 Design and analysis of the tracking and tracing database The database records the entire circulation history information of the product. Because the tracking and tracing database records a large amount of product information, many people will be interested in this information, so the data in it must be highly reliable. (1) The tracking and tracing database should be maintained by a government agency or an independent third party. (2) Each participant in the supply chain should submit the relevant information to the tracking and tracing database in a timely manner when the product enters and leaves. (3) The product sender specifies the recipient of the product by writing the recipient's public key into the radio frequency tag. (4) The operation permissions of each participant in the supply chain should be restricted, and they can only operate on their own data. (5) For competing companies, they do not want competitors to see their product circulation information, so they must take measures to ensure that they can only see the product information they own and not the information of other entities; (6) When the product is confirmed to be sold at the retail point, the private key and digital signature information in the tag are removed and the product sold information is submitted to the tracking and traceability database in a timely manner (effectively preventing the packaging from being recycled and reused); consumers can use a general reader to retrieve the product's production and circulation information through the network and a dedicated middleware. See Figure 5. 3 Summary This article briefly discusses the shortcomings of other anti-counterfeiting technologies, while RF1D technology overcomes these shortcomings and helps companies establish a product tracking and traceability system, which is expected to greatly improve product security. In terms of the authentication method of radio frequency tags and readers, it is combined with PIG technology in the RFID middleware part, so that companies are not bound by dedicated readers.