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Banknotes Go Electronic To Outwit Counterfeiters
suraj.sun writes "Modern banknotes contain up to 50 anti-counterfeiting features, but adding electronic circuits programmed to confirm the note's authenticity is perhaps the ultimate deterrent, and would also help to simplify banknote tracking. From the article: 'A team of German and Japanese researchers created arrays of thin-film transistors (TFTs) by carefully depositing gold, aluminum oxide and organic molecules directly onto the notes through a patterned mask, building up the TFTs layer by layer. The result is an undamaged banknote containing around 100 organic TFTs, each of which is less than 250 nanometres thick and can be operated with voltages of just 3V. Such small voltages could be transmitted wirelessly by an external reader, such as the kind that communicates with the RFID tags found on many products.'"
Why do we still carry money anyway?
It's hard for me to imagine any security measure economical enough to implement in $20 bills could not be replicated by a really well-funded forger, such as a foreign intelligence agency. If there is any "ultimate" deterrent, it would involve tracking the movement of funds from one individual to another, i.e. marginalizing the use of cash, or making it equivalent to electronic banking, so Big Brother can keep an eye on it.
Now my wallet can use an RFID reader to tell me it doesn't have any money in it? Fantastic.
Hello tracking porn and cigarette purchases. This is the next step in teh "War on Crime."
What will happen of the anonymity of cash?
What could POSSIBLY go wrong?
All that money won't be worth the paper it's printed on in a few years anyway.
Supporter of the +1 Over Dramatic mod option. In memory of apk.
Wasn't RFID hacked some while back? What makes them think this is unhackable? Counterfeiting will just get more elaborate that's all.... They'll find a way to do the same thing once these are out in the wild...
I wonder if their new banknotes will survive the US money test.
:)
Assuming it does and gets adopted by countries, it'll be time for the shielded wallets that are RFID proof.
I figure a flame war will start over this somewhere
Here are just a few of those sites you can get those shielded wallets from for the more paranoid amongst you : )
http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/security/8cdd/
http://www.idstronghold.com/
http://www.tamperseal.com/rfid-blocking-leather-wallet-p-332.html
http://rfidwallet.org/
... publish the secret salt bits added to the hash to sign the note digitally and we will be back to square one.
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
You should check out Bitcoins. http://www.bitcoin.org/ The mathematics behind it are genius. I wander how long it will take before governments try to shut it down.
And how durable is the circuitry? Abrasion, water, folding, chemicals (ex. laundry soap), etc are usually hazardous to circuitry. Seems like there will be a few false positives, assuming of course they could even manufacture such notes in a cost effective and reliable manner. The US is already having problems printing its own money.
This is nothing a few seconds in the microwave won't fix.
Of course, I had to use a hammer to fix my passport's problem.
Part of the problem, particularly in the US, is there isn't a good person-to-person electronic payment system that is easy to use, secure, and low cost. So let's say you pay for lunch on your credit card, how do I pay you back? Paypal requires we both have accounts, go to a computer, transfer, incur a fee, wait, and so on. Unless you happen to be a business owner you yourself don't accept credit cards. So cash is the only easy way.
Can also apply to businesses. Like when I had a local plumber come out to fix a broken faucet. They would take a credit card, of course, they have to in this day and age, but they didn't want to pay the retardedly expensive fees to have a full on wireless, battery powered, unit in their trucks. So I would have had to call their office and give them the number, they run the card, call back the plumber and tell him "It's good write him a receipt." Or, I could do what I did, get some cash and just pay him on the spot.
We need a some more advances in electronic currency before it'll be feasible to not need paper anymore.
At the moment, cash is basically the only (mostly) anonymous means of payment available. Since when is less anonymous is a good idea?
seriously though, once cash is traceable, it ceases to be useful. unless they only use it on very large bills and they reinstate the higher denomination bills
Archimedes' principle. The Fisch implementation is pretty good.
Set your phasers on "funky"!
Poorer countries such as Nicaragua, Nigeria, Bangladesh and Kuwait use them, so why have other countries not caught up?
This isn't just the US, but the EU and UK as well. Why stick to paper when much more advanced tech has been around for over 20 years and is being used by third world countries?
If you ignore ACs because they are anonymous - you're an idiot.
Privacy is the opposite of Security.
Good is the opposite of Evil.
Thought crime is when you admit that having Three Wars of Foreign Adventure against Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan when al-Qaeda isn't in any of those three countries and hasn't been in any of them for five years ... is a bad idea.
Did anyone else watch the cool Castle episode where the Burlesque club owner led a gang of counterfeiters?
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
...but adding electronic circuits programmed to confirm the note's authenticity is perhaps the ultimate deterrent...
Because everyone knows it's impossible to spoof electronics.
XKCD:Xeric Knowledge Comically Dispen
If I have an RFID reader, will I be able to tell how much cash the mark is holding?
What happens when the note has been exchanged continuously from person to person for several years? The note will start to wear. How will those circuits hold up? I don't want to be arrested for suspected counterfeiting because the circuits in the note happened to fail while it was in my wallet.
When you bring this note back in after 25-30 years and they sorry the note doesn't check out.
1. You just lost money.
2. You look like a criminal.
3. Bank profits as usual.
Beware of those who profit off the docile and persecute the unbelievers.
The author didn't included the ending paragraph of the article, which is: Although the researchers have yet to work out how the organic electronics could be harnessed as an anti-counterfeit measure [hey, but this stuff is really cool], the circuits are able to perform simple computing operations [yes, they have etched a perfect circuit board that looks like a $20 bill].
Noone tries to counterfeit Zimbabwean dollars anymore, because counterfeit money would actually be more valuable than real ZWD...
http://spamdecoy.net - free throwaway anonymous email - avoid spam!
I do not like to have all of my transactions tracked, analyzed, scrutinized, questioned, etc... Also, electric transactions do not work in the vast majority of the world, money does.
I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own.
Now they can create a trail on people who use cash to avoid being traced. Think of this:
Pay cash for a cell phone? They can trace it back to you.
Money laundering? "So how did Mr Addict's money get back to you?
Got cash from an ATM? Wow, all your bills are belong to us.
Damaged bank note? No good, probably a forgery (wink wink)
Moving cash across country borders? You'll light up like a X-mas tree
Giving cash to a friend who's in trouble with the law? Good luck
Using a stash of stockpiled older bills? Now suspicious
Buying fast food? How long until a reader in the cash tray triggers recordings of the security cameras (etc etc)
This is an escalation, not the end of the battle, IMHO. And yes, anonymous payment does "suddenly become an issue" where it wasn't before. People need to be able to pay for small things (taxi/transport, food, clothing, communications) as well as larger things (transportation, shelter, communications) anonymously.
Ask your friends and family what they think. Start a dialog. Listen. Do what you want to do right now. If you will still be able to do what you want in the future, well that partly depends on you.
... but adding electronic circuits programmed to confirm the note's authenticity is perhaps the ultimate deterrent, ...
Right. Of course. Electronic stuff has never, ever been counterfeited. "Ultimate deterrent" is, I suspect, a hyperbole here deserving of a Princess Bride style rebuke.
Put my fist through my alarm clock with its ding-dong death inside my ear. - The Blackjacks.
Ah yes, the famous crush test, which is why we use color-shifting dyes instead of holograms. You know why they have that test? So that agents can swallow a large amount of US currency in special capsules, carry it across borders undetected, crap it out, and have it still be in good enough condition pay off informants.
At least, that's my theory. And why I doubt they'll ever use a method that would reveal the amount of hidden currency you're carrying that they can't themselves defeat (if the circuitry survives the crush test, somehow the capsule will shield it without tripping metal detectors).
Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
They were working to put the world under the control of police states then too.
Democracy Now! - your daily, uncensored, corporate-free
Traceless transfers. The IRS and banks hate them. Where would the black market be without cash?
A team of German and Japanese researchers created arrays of thin-film transistors (TFTs) by carefully depositing gold, aluminum oxide and organic molecules directly onto the notes through a patterned mask...
Well I'll be damned - if they have gold in them now this little bit of otherwise worthless paper actually has a minuscule bit of value...
Deja Moo: The distinct feeling that you've heard this bull before.
Is irrlevant given the likely uninteded hyperinflation that will artise out of the intended inflation (to reduce the US debt to the world - you suckers bought all that paper from us, soon it will be worth less than shit, ha haa haaa, haaaa)
If I accidentally zap it with a static electric discharge, is it now worthless?
Sounds like the notes would cost more to make than they are worth, or soon will be worth.
Paper money can be scrunched up, rubbed against other paper and much more. I doubt this TFT thingamo will survive some of the rougher treatment that current paper money can go through.
John_Chalisque
I was getting tired of hauling all those Krugerrand, American Eagle, and Gold Pandas in my pocket anyways.
as long as it's impossible to make an electronic circuit without government help.
Seems to me it would be pretty easy to scan people as they crossed borders, got on airplanes, or entered a building with RFID scanners. Couldn't this type of tech tell big brother whose money you have and give an idea of where you got it.
I don't like it. Not one bit. Groups like the NSA, TSA, CIA, etc are already going way too far. I hope this doesn't catch on.
W00t, now you can use a simple scanner to determine how much cash someone is carrying! Before you used to have to worry about whether the person you are about to mug is even carrying enough valuables to be worth it, but not any more...
"...and would also help to simplify banknote tracking. "
Cause the government doesn't have enough ways to track us already.
The paper bill itself is essentially worthless. It is merely a piece of paper to say the government owes you the value printed; a promissory note.
By adding in electronics, you're adding value to the note itself. Now the note will have value, but you lose that value when you redeem it. How will we offset the value lost in the possession of these notes? Will my electronic note be worth more than your simple paper note? Will I be paid less when given electronic-filled notes?
With gold prices generally going up, and the value of the promise of an American Dollar going down, is it possible that the note itself will be worth more than the promised redeem value from the government?
You do know that Barter is against the US tax code, right?
Up until now (!) the govt had better things to do than track chickens, but conceptually it's in the category of unreported revenue.
My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine
There is no longer any redemptive value. Nixon completely freed the dollar from its linkage to gold and/or silver in 1973. The dollar now represents only an IOU to return it to the Federal Reserve. In other words, it is worthless.
Get real! And don't censor this comment by hiding it!
The question should be:
"why are we still using money?"
guys we are in 2010, and still speaking of borders, nationality ( or naZionality for better understanding ), money, wars, occupation, flying spaghetti monster called gods, COM'ON grow up!!!
please lets evolve before is too late!! moneyless society is possible!!! who wants to do, do; who don't want, don't, how simple is that?!?!?
please get of your xbox,youtube,facebook shit, please lets evolve to a new civilization!!
PLEASEEEE
If every bill is accountable to you, and has to be checked for validity before the transaction can be completed,
then all the cash in your pocket can effectively be turned off, at any time.
If the government doesn't like you, you can't buy anything... not even food.
<blockquote><i>The bouillon ownership will be banned like it was pre-1975.</i></blockquote>
Then how will I make soup?!
I know my country has already gone electronic.
If it rhymes it must be true.
No. Even if it encodes a digitally signed attestation of cash value with serial number, someone can copy the bar code onto the counterfeit bill. You would also need to verify the barcoded bill identity with some online registry as to who currently holds the "real" copy of that instrument, to determine whether it is a duplicate bill. But, once you've started using online verification, the bill serves no purpose. Just make electronic transfers in the accounts on the online registry. Same strengths, same weaknesses.
Another approach would be each bill having a signature chain describing its provenance, amended with each transfer of funds. Then you get a sort of web-of-trust path to decide if the bill followed a reasonable path or just appeared out of the back of a counterfeiter's truck. But again, this erases the bill's utility as an anonymous unit of value. People don't like that.
So you're really stuck with private key storage in the bill, as if each bill were a smart card that is tamper-resistant. Or some analogue circuitry gimmickj that is too expensive to emulate without the scale of production used in the real "mint".
Don't believe that it is a measure to stop counterfeits. The majority of the world's counterfeit notes come from North Korea, Iran and Colombia. They can keep up with the technology. The days of some retired printer making bills in his basement are mostly gone. Counterfeit is a miniscule per cent of the world economy. What governments are more interested in is the underground cash economy. Large segments of society works off the books.This means they don't pay taxes. These tags make it easier to track the flow of money. The tags can be read by portable readers smaller than a paperback. These tags are the same kind that are appearing in credit cards. In a recent report a guy walking within a few feet of people on the street was able to read their credit cards.... including account numbers. Now they will also know how much cash and where it came from. Anyone think these readers aren't going to soon be at the entrance to every government building? Good news is that you can already by a sleeve for your cards that blocks the signal. I guess now someone will market blocking wallets.
Oh, so NOW there's gold in our money.
The eternal struggle of good vs. evil begins within one's self.
...I (meaning the government funded Russian counterfeiter) can do better....
I am very small, utmostly microscopic.
Sorry to disappoint, but we knew about the 666 striping in barcodes - they're timing bars, but they also happen to be the number 6 - when I attended a Christian school in 1978. I'm quite sure the cognizance pre-dated even then.
"Mr. Petersko, we have a record of you receiving this bill at 5:00 p.m. from the ATM. At 5:40 p.m. a marijuana dealer was arrested and he had possession of that bill. Can you explain that?"
"No, sir, I cannot. From 5:00 p.m. until 5:58 p.m. I was fucking your mother in the alley by the ATM. I can't count it as an alibi because she'll deny it, but if you'll examine her anus you'll find some compelling evidence. Alternatively, take your suspicion and go away."
And then I'll pray the L.A.-style cop beating will be caught on cell phone.
Get Rich Quick Scheme: Invent Electronic Money!
Make every single transaction report to the government's wireless network and convey all
context information about the transaction so that the Government Overlords can adjust the
"value" of the currency that is being exchanged.
Collect sales tax at your neighbors yard sale? Decrement the notes value at the point of sale.
Outlaw gambling? Notes passed over a game of dice will automatically erase their "value".
Outlaw drugs? Same answer.
What's not to Love?
One does not necessarily follow from the other. At most, it means that barter is a type of revenue that should be reported. Do you know how one might report such revenue? Do you know if there are systems in place to pay taxes in kind? Do you have any references on these issues?
"An inconvenient truth for card issuers and merchants is that cash is a lot safer for consumers. It's anonymous and secure; it's impervious to power outages and network outages and clerical or computer errors which require hours on service calls to reconcile. Cash is also privacy-friendly, allowing the consumer to complete a transaction at its face value without paying the tax of ceding personal information and exposing oneself to the identity theft pandemic."
http://www.meetup.com/socalmartiallawalerts/messages/boards/thread/9675518
This is exactly what is going to happen. Mark my words, if we go purely electronic we will then be owned by the banks, purely.
credit is in their control .
Also and more subtly , credit is destroyed when you pay a debt . It removes money from the economy . Cash on the other hand just keeps going round .
I'm sure that he'd be happy with 10% of the home computer callout maintenance business of the entire US. He might be a tad busy though, and would probably need to hire some assistants. And a private jet.
'a priori' instead "of as a matter or course", "putatively" where its use adds nothing to the sentence (it's either impartial or it is not. Putatively impartial is not more or less than that).
And you're wrong. People participate in/with governments because they are always there and they have no choice if they are to have any say at all in how the country is run. Government is that place where the most active and aggressive individuals in society come together to compete with each other to impose their views on the rest of us.
The fact that you, or I, may or may not agree with some particular measure which they might impose does not mean that we are on the same side.
I am curious as to what banknotes are really for...?
Are they for being able to carry large amounts of money (millions) easily in your pocket
from one bank to another where you want to avoid the possibility of getting robbed....
could one bank manager just be able to contact another and make a transfer from one account into another...
if anyone has any insight, I would really appreciate it....would help me understand the scenario more clearly.
The only true money is the kind of stuff that has been used as money for thousands of years and can always be traded for.
Gold, silver, platinum, nickel, copper, uranium, all of it is good.
But I prefer gold personally, it doesn't rot.
You can't handle the truth.
Watch this help glom to who exactly is carrying large amounts of money on their person.
A mugger or gold-digger's friend.
This will help speed the move away from cash.
Weed. The new currency for the 21st century.
Don't make it optional. When you stop printing paper bills in favor of polymer, and remove all the paper bills from circulation as they return to banks (same process that happens now with existing bills), people will use them.
And I have approximately zero sympathy for the argument that we should give up on a solution that's more economical and harder to counterfeit because "people don't like the way they feel".
You do know that if you hand your friend a $100 bill and he hands it back to you, the government thinks it is entitled to skim off a percentage of both of those "gifts", right?
Yes, I meant "unreported Barter" is against the US tax code. Broadly speaking, the US code runs on the starter principle "report any revenue of any kind anywhere". As for precisely where, I'm expecting some major tax code changes will float through within the next couple of years because President Obama has been involved with that area recently, but it usually takes another year for Gov action to show up on actual forms. Roughly, for "scam-barter" attempts like thousands of dollars of swap it shows up in one of the "other income / non-cash transaction" rules on the various forms like schedules C for small biz, D for stocks, and E for Rental.
My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine
Fortunately for you, there is also a Gift clause that lets you escape happily as an untracked AC for small amounts like that.
My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine