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Radio Credit Cards Move Closer
pvt_medic writes "CNN.com has an article about research that some major credit card companies (MasterCard and American Express) are putting into creating 'contactless' credit cards. These are similar to the Speedpass that ExxonMobil has been using for six years. What to people think about the prospect of this more widespread use of RFID? Is this something that will only lead to more credit card fraud, or will it provide more secure means of payment?" (The article comes from the Associated Press.)
We have a method of payment that can subtract electronic mone from your account, with no input from you, and without your card ever leaving your wallet? Yeah, thats a great idea....
I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
Won't this make it easier to steal someones cc number now. Since all some will have to do is hide a sensor of some type in a mall or someplace that can pick up the radio frequency?
Another reason to sniff the wireless frequencies. You may not be able to get into most cell networks these days, but this will bring all kinds of fun the the quest. Someone will figure out how to hack this inside three months. At least right now I have to match a signature (though nobody checks the card) and my debit card has my picture on it. God knows I won't want to get one of these.
Standing on the shoulders of giants.
Transport for London's Oyster Card is a contactless ticketing system for the London Underground and London Buses.
At the moment, it can only hold season tickets, so it isn't a great problem if you accidently use it. From next year, you can hold other types of ticket in there as well.
It has some advantages, like being able to recharge it over the phone or online without having to wait for the tickets to arrive through the post.
You can get through the ticket barriers without taking it out your bag, though you have to hold the bag petty close to the sensor.
People don't like it because it allows TFL to trace your travel habits much more than they could before.
In the case of credit cards, I can't see how just holding it close to a sensor could be evidence of your approval of the transaction. You would need some sort of verification process like a signature or a PIN/password.
Bullshit, Sir Whacksalot. Nobody breaks 128 bit encryption to steal credit cards when there are much easier ways to do it.
..are that your credit card number is everywhere. If people want numbers, they will get them. If they get yours - then thats bad luck. All you have to do is keep an eye on your credit card statements and make sure all the charges are yours. If they aren't call the credit card company and tell them. It's easy as pie. I kills me when I see people overly paranoid about thier CC#'s. I mean, comeon...you go to a restraunt and GIVE your waitress or waiter your card to carry across the room away from your eyes and run it through the machine. If they wanted, it wouldnt be hard for them to copy the numbers. Then..up on the net in a flash. Point being...security for this type of thing is nice, but don't let yourself get lazy depending on it. Keep checking those statements!
adventure-today.com
Who says that it has to be that insecure? I envision a little device that goes on a keychain (similar in that respect to SpeedPass), which has a little button on the side of it. You squeeze the button as you pass it over the scanner. Only when the button is squeezed does the transmitter in the device emit anything.
BTW, why are you so paranoid about a contactless credit card? Do you eat at restaurants and pay with a credit card? Chances are, if you do, some potentially sleazy waiter has taken your credit card out of your sight for a few minutes. Not only can he copy your card, chances are that he knows what city you live in and can then get your home (think billing) address out of the phone book. On top of that, he can look at what kind of clothes you wear and car you drive and make a guesstimate about your credit line.
Where you really get screwed is not the change in the technology from mag stripe to RFID. It's the banks switching you from a true credit card, to an ATM/debit account. Then you're not protected by law for the consequences of fradulent transactions.
Look. Here is what I care about with my credit card:
- If reasonable proof can't be shown that I personally authorized a transaction, I will not be held responsible for it.
That's it. That's all. The line of credit is between me and the issuer... the card is simply a token that represents that. Historically, you had to be there in PERSON to use one.. but everyone looks the other way for convenience, online work, etc.
I don't care what method visa or whoever comes up with to represent that token. If it's less convenient for me, I won't use it. If it somehow rips me off, I won't use it. If it makes me more liable for fraud, I won't use it. If they take all the risks, I don't care if it's a smart card or a credit card or a proximity card.
Now.. that said.. having proximity cards / RFID type cards does bother me.. it seems like a bad move. It doesn't give ME, the customer, anything I really want. So.. it simply won't fly.
I won't have my credit card dictated to me.. its' not about the card, it's about the agreement... and about credit.
The card itself (checked a mastercard and a non-credit atm card) says 'Not valid unless signed', which would lead me to believe a merchant should refuse transactions from people with Check ID written on the card, unless they happen to be named 'Check ID'
The merchants who really care about the id of their purchasers ask to see my fake id when i use a stolen card anyhow.
Need a Catering Connection
With those things, the store could identify you as you come in, and target in store ads for you, using previous purchases as a guide.
...
Or once we have tagged currency, they can see if you can even afford to be in the store or not..
And provide records to the government, ' ya he was in our store at such-and-such a time date'
---- Booth was a patriot ----
You know, I share the concerns about RFID and pervasive cameras. But these are symptoms of the true problem, which is a spiralling police state in the US (as well as elsewhere) which is arrogating more and more authority to itself and behaving more belligerently.
It's also starting to intimidate dissidents.
If we could trust the government and corporations (yeah right) RFID would be no problem at all.
Since we can't, attacking RFID and other intrusive surveillance technologies is only applying a bandage to a gangrenous wound.
Intolerance for ambiguity is the mark of the authoritarian personality.
I have a Speedpass, and it doesn't activate the "hot spot" on the pump until it's less than an inch away. There's really not that much difference between the Speedpass and a credit card with no visible markings, except that you don't have to remember which way up to put it in the card reader.
Security concerns about someone "scanning" a credit card using this radio technology from a distance is probably unfounded, unless you have it in your wallet and sit on the scanner.