RFID-enabled credit cards are presenting a security breach and becoming prey to thieves who can steal the information from as far as a 30 to 60 foot radius. RFID has been around for some time and the frequency enabled broadcast chips have traditionally been used to track pets and retail goods, but most recently have been used to track people from the chips set inside credit cards, passports and even the human body. However, sophisticated thieves, equipped with a technologically advanced RFID reader, can take information off the chips in a matter of seconds.

American Express has assured their customers that the account numbers obtained by the reader are not the same as on the front of the card and can only be used for online purchases, not in-store. But, this is of little comfort to people who will be dealing with unauthorized purchases on their accounts later on. 

The most eye-popping revelation, however, is that RFID chips are being used in passports, which contain some of the most critical and personal information about an individual. The UK has picked up on this passport trend, with other countries including the U.S., soon to follow suit. But users should beware that vendors have been popping up all over the internet, selling trackers that can scan RFID chips from as far as 30 feet away. 

Solutions are not easy to come by in the RFID world because the whole point of RFID is to make it more convenient to store private information. Convenience is met with risk, however, and until security is developed on the RFID encryption method, those using RFID technology will be at risk of having their information security compromised without any contact. University of Virginia graduate student Karsten Nohl puts it best when he says, “From what we can see, RFID-enabled credit cards have no security (yet?), and hence there is nothing to compromise.”

Comments:

Pretty nice info, thanks for sharing.

Add Your Comment

Name: Company name:

Email:

(We will never sell your name or e-mail address to anyone)

Comment:

Remember my personal information
Notify me of follow-up comments?

Please enter the word you see in the image below: