Security of Next Generation Cards Called into Question

Security of Next Generation Cards Called into Question
In an article for CBN News ("New Credit Cards: Safe or Sorry?, 26 October 2006) Darla Sitton and Andrea Garrett discuss the new generation of credit cards being used by millions of Americans that can be "swiped at a distance, which makes it easier to pay."

Data from the cards is delivered via radio waves and the technology seeks to make the shopping experience even easier by eliminating both the need to swipe the card and to sign for the purchase. Critics, however, point out that the technology actually makes identify theft easier.

In testing by scientists at the University of Massachusetts, the radio-wave card readers and twenty of the cards themselves were easily hacked. As Kevin Fu of U. Mass told the reporters, "If you are holding your card and the thief comes behind you, for instance, and gets close enough, then your card will be read."

The report also quoted Professor Avi Rubin of the Johns Hopkins Computer Science Department. "A person could take this equipment and put it int o a backpack, and go to a crowded area and basically start collecting credit card numbers."

Not surprisingly, the credit card companies defend their technology and dispute the research conclusions. American Express claims to have implemented the highest security in the industry while Chase says its cards have a readability range of only two inches. MasterCard said the research cited does not take into account the full scope of security measures employed with the cards.

Still, given the rising epidemic of identity theft, critics say the radio wave cards should be viewed with great caution.


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