New credit cards pose security problem

Article


Most newly issued credit cards pose major fraud and privacy concerns because of how they're designed to be scanned through the air, some cyber-security experts warn.

"Contactless" MasterCards and Visa cards have been available in Canada for several years, but they've only recently reached the bulk of consumers as the country's biggest banks adopt them.

The credit cards have an embedded computer chip called a radio frequency identification, or RFID, tag. When waved near a payment terminal in a store, the chip supplies the card's number and expiry date through radio waves, avoiding the need to swipe or insert the card or have a cashier handle it.

'It's not encrypted, which is not what we were expecting.'—IT security expert Pablos Holman

And that's the first problem, U.S. cyber-security expert Pablos Holman says.

Anyone can buy an RFID credit card reader online, where second-hand units sometimes sell for under $10, and start scanning cards in public — without cardholders knowing.


WHAT ????

You mean some turkey can just bump into me on a crowded bus with a back pack with a scanner hidden inside , scan my credit card, and next thing I know the dang thing has been racked up ?

One of the comments to the article suggests tin foil in the wallet.

Since you're not supposed to put tinfoil in the microwave because it messes the thing up , and microwave cooks by "micrwoaves" (radio waves) , seems a reasonable precaution.

quick ! Where's the tin foil !

No , not for my head ! For my wallet !





Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2010/05/31/f-rfid-credit-cards-security-concerns.html#socialcomments#ixzz0poLQk9zQ