The present invention provides value to brand owners, retailers, and consumers through the use of radio frequency identification, stenography, nanolithography, fingerprints, novel heuristic threat evaluation, indication, and detection model. Additionally, using cryptography, tag passwords are formulated and identities are reversibly flipped, thus allowing item identities to remain secret to unauthorized observers. This unique combination of heuristics and authentication technologies provides an efficient means of finding and stopping the flow of counterfeit products throughout global supply chains. The present invention includes radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, encoders, servers, identity changers, and authenticity verifiers to make this task a viable and adaptive weapon against the elusive counterfeiters. The present end-to-end RFID system offers unprecedented security for retailers and consumers, while remaining efficient and scalable.