03 June 2010

RFID Credit Cards

I've never been a fan of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags on things potentially used for fraud and identity theft, like passports, official ID cards, and now credit cards. Articles like the one linked below describing how easy it is to read RFID information, and that many RFID tags aren't even encrypted, do nothing to instill confidence.

RFID smart cards

New credit cards pose security problem

Hacker shows CBC how to crack 'contactless' MasterCard

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. [...]

"What people don't understand is the credit-card industry isn't trying to make cards secure," Holman said. "They just have a risk-management problem where they try to control the amount of fraud on their system." -- cbc.ca

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