Tag Archive for: Card

This gizmo knows your Amex card number before you’ve received it

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A device built by legendary hacker Samy Kamkar calls into question the security of payment cards as the U.S. continues to grapples with card fraud.

Kamkar’s device, nicknamed MagSpoof, is about the size of a U.S. quarter, and it’s safe to say it would be a fraudster’s dream.

MagSpoof can predict what a new American Express card number will be based on a canceled card’s number. The new expiration date can also be predicted based on when the replacement card was requested.

It can also trick point-of-sale readers into accepting payment from cards that are supposed to have a microchip with advanced cryptographic capabilities designed to deter fraud, a system known as chip-and-PIN, but do not.

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Network World Security

Grab your new credit card and get ready to dip your chip

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This column is available in a weekly newsletter called IT Best Practices.  Click here to subscribe.  

If you live in the United States and you have a credit card, chances are high your bank recently sent you a new card with an embedded smart chip. Banks and other card issuers are scurrying to put chip-enabled credit cards in their customers’ hands. Debits cards, too. These cards are critical for a new security system for card-based payments that will go into effect in the U.S. soon.

In the lingo of the payments industry, the new cards are called EMV cards. EMV is an open set of specifications for smart cards and other acceptance devices such as smart phones and fobs. EMV stands for Europay, MasterCard and Visa, which are the three companies that developed the standard in 1994. Today the EMV standard is managed by EMVCo LLC, which has six member organizations – American Express, Discover, JCB, MasterCard, UnionPay and Visa – and dozens of EMVCo associates. EMVCo makes decisions on a consensus basis to assure card infrastructure uniformity throughout the world.

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Network World Security

Don’t Want Your Credit Card Hacked? Use Apple Pay

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Apple Pay, Android Pay, Google Wallet … Fillmore said he found a shocking lack of physical security in these devices, creating opportunities for hackers, thieves, and disreputable business owners to rip you off. What surprised Fillmore most was that …
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