September 2, 2015

There were 2 posts published on September 2, 2015 (this is page 1 of 1).

Alexander: Do those new chip-based credit and debit cards need protection? – StarTribune.com

I was chatting with the cashier supervisor at the local Large Mart, asking if Large Mart would be going to the new, chip-based credit cards.

“Yeah, we’re going to get those within the next few weeks,” he said.

I nodded. “Well, I’ve been the victim of credit card fraud so many times that I welcome the extra security.”

“The new cards also have security problems,” the supervisor answered. “With the chip cards, thieves can read your cards while they’re in your wallet.”

That was news to me. The chip on my card is definitely a contact card, and any RFID-based credit card would be wide open to the world and truly offer zero security. Fortunately, banks aren’t using RFID, but Near-Field Communication (NFC), and only in some chips (i.e., not in the U.S. at this time). NFC has a range of 2-4 inches, which is about 1/12th the range of an RFID tag. Also, an NFC-capable device does encryption, while an RFID tag would only stupidly transmit static numbers.

So, tl;dr: current chip cards in the U.S. are contact-only, and NFC chips won’t be readable outside of your wallet. Bring on the chipped-card revolution, I say!

Q: Do the new EMV chip credit cards (named after the developers, Europay, MasterCard and Visa) require a protective cover so that they can’t be scanned by nearby thieves, just as RFID (radio frequency identification) cards do? Do other radio frequency ID cards, such as hotel key cards, pose a risk of identity theft?
Jan Sartee,
San Rafael, Calif.

A: There are two types of credit cards using EMV chip technology. One is read by a slot in a point-of-sale ­terminal; the other is read by holding the card near the sales terminal.

If your EMV card requires physical contact inside a reader, its transactions and account information can’t be scanned remotely by thieves. If it is a contactless card, there’s a chance it could be read by nearby spying equipment, although the credit card ­industry says that’s unlikely.

Source: Alexander: Do those new chip-based credit and debit cards need protection? – StarTribune.com

The Strange Saga of the MH370 Plane Part — NYMag

Speaking of MH-370, remember that Boeing 777 wing flapiron that washed ashore last month on Reunion Island? It turns out the ID plate on it is curiously missing, and the wing part appears to have been marinated somehow to artificially boost its barnacle growth.

This mystery gets stranger and stranger.

Tomorrow marks one month since a piece of a Boeing 777 washed up on the Indian Ocean island of La Réunion, but French investigators are no closer to confirming that the part came from missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. In fact, leaks from within the investigation suggest that the part might not have come from the plane at all.

Source: The Strange Saga of the MH370 Plane Part — NYMag