Chip-card technology hacked
Posted Jan 21, 2011 11:09:00 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Just as North America’s banks and government agencies are switching over to chip-card security technology, hackers have found a way to use the new safeguards to steal identities.
Mary Garofalo, consulting producer and television host of the show 16:9 The Bigger Picture conducted an experiment at the Eaton Centre with security expert Walt Augustinowicz. They captured credit and debit card information using a portable scanner Augustinowicz purchased for a few dollars online.
“So as he walked by people, you could hear the little click and you knew it was capturing the number. He would stop the person and he would say ‘is this your credit card and expiration date?’ And everybody, everybody was shocked,” Garofalo told audiences on Maritime Morning with Jordi Morgan.
Garofalo explained Augustinowicz was able take her credit card information and make a false card using the plastic key from his hotel room.
The Radio Frequency Identity (RFID) technology is used for some government ID cards as well as driver’s licenses in parts of the United States and Canada, as well as bank cards. The latest generation of the driver’s license can also be used as a passport.
Augustinowicz sells protective sleeves for RFID cards though his company Identity Stronghold. But a piece of tinfoil will also work.
