As Israel begins to reopen gyms, hotels, and other venues starting next week, and requires those who want to make use of them to show proof that they have been vaccinated against, or have recovered from, COVID-19, many were skeptical of the security of the documentation that shows their status, the so-called “green pass.”
“It is easy with a graphics program to change the text on the pass, but the QR code is what looks scary and hard to forge, no? Actually, this is very easy,” Ran Bar-Zik, an expert on cybersecurity, wrote Tuesday.
A black market for counterfeit vaccination certificates is already thriving on Telegram, where more than 100,000 users have joined groups that offer the forgeries at a price, Channel 12 reported.
Health Minister Yuli Edelstein has warned that anyone caught with a false vaccination pass could be fined NIS 5,000 ($1,500).
Responding to reports on how easily the passes can be falsified, a spokesperson for the Health Ministry told Channel 12, “The vaccination pass in its current form is meant to provide an initial quick response. At the same time, we are looking into implementing a secure barcode that will be internationally accepted.”
