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Privacy Pitfalls in No-Swipe Credit Cards
Nrbelex writes to mention a New York Times article about the privacy pitfalls of 'no-swipe' credit cards. Despite assurances from the card companies, researchers Tom Heydt-Benjamin and Kevin Fu were able to easily retrieve data from the new cards ... data available without encryption and in plain text. From the article: "They could skim and store the information from a card with a device the size of a couple of paperback books, which they cobbled together from readily available computer and radio components for $150. They say they could probably make another one even smaller and cheaper: about the size of a pack of gum for less than $50. And because the cards can be read even through a wallet or an item of clothing, the security of the information, the researchers say, is startlingly weak. 'Would you be comfortable wearing your name, your credit card number and your card expiration date on your T-shirt?' Mr. Heydt-Benjamin, a graduate student, asked."
Ahhh this is complete BS because do you really think the CC companies just say ok we will pay for this NO we all pay for it they pass the cost on to us all. Not to mention all the time we will spend on hold trying to get a rep on the phone to clear up all the mess. We should be compensated for our lost time.
You can put the blame for this on Affirmative Action...
See, if they had used a good solid encryption scheme, only a select few uber hacker/crackers could beat the security. Of course they would then spill the beans, let the cat out of the bag, while taking credit and gaining fame.
So they used some Affirmative Action methods to make it where even a GNAA level hacker/cracker could beat their security and feel good about themselves too, just like if they were real elite.
Just a victim of your own sucess really. No point securing it, since it will be broken.
I only look human.
My mother is a halfling and my dad is an ogre, so that makes me an Ogreling
Precisely.
Does anyone know if it would be possible to patent being robbed by the above methods? Patenting the actual robbery from the thief's point of view might be a bit of a problem because it's illegal, any royalties you were due might be considered proceeds of crime, and you would actually have to catch the perpetrator to stand a chance of getting paid. But if the robbery victim infringes upon the patent by the simple act of being robbed -- which is not necessarily illegal, depending on what is stolen -- you already have the victim right there telling the story of how they did the very same thing you own a patent on. And they're probably insured too.
Je fume. Tu fumes. Nous fûmes!
My suggestions for anyone who has an issue with these blokes, write a letter to both TfL and Silverlink.
Or do one better, and pop a bullet up his ass in self-defence. You are allowed to carry handguns in London, aren't you?
A couple of episodes of mistreated customers going "postal", and the attitude will change completely.
PS: Guns are extremely dangerous. Do not use, own, clean, load, or handle a gun at any time.
Obama likes poor people so much, he wants to make more of them.
The Bush administration's genius for Homeland Security and planning is replacing our passports with this untrustworthy "wireless scanning" tech starting next year.
What happens when someone changes your passport data without you're knowing, outside the country, and they send you to Guantanamo. Years of of "interviews" on an electric waterboard, while all you've got for the "interview consultants" is "I don't know what happened" - years everyone thinks you got kidnapped by terrorists, because your lawyer never heard from you.
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make install -not war