Over the weekend in Washington D.C. one woman proved how easy it is to steal a person’s contactless credit card data using a few hundred dollars worth of equipment without even so much as touching the cardholder’s wallet.
During the Shmoocon hacker conference, Kristin Paget demonstrated how easy it is for criminals to use a new form of pick pocketing thanks to the credit cards embedded with RFID technology. The cards include Visa PayWave, MasterCard PayPass, Discover Zip and American Express ExpressPay.
Using a $50 RFID enabled credit card reader, a $300 magnetizing device and a blank credit card which sells for about 10 cents each when bought in bulk, Paget was able to make a copy of the credit card and use the Square credit card reader to attain “unauthorized” payment from the cardholder. She could have also used the card anywhere, racking up the card balance without leaving a trace.
Now of course, the person was a volunteer from the audience that had given Paget consent to charge the card but it just goes to show how easy it is to be robbed without even taking your credit card out.
The card does not have to be visible for the information to be stolen. It can be read through a wallet in your pocket without you ever knowing what happened.
According to credit card companies the stolen card information can only be used for one transaction. But Paget says that this just means criminals need to steal the information from multiple cards. Some people don’t even notice a one-time transaction on their credit cards making it a real problem.
Currently in development to block hackers from scanning your RFID card and using it for their benefit is the Guard Bunny. The device is still in the words and is not yet available to the public but will work better than existing RFID blocking shields.
This is because the Guard Bunny has its own RFID chip which is designed to jam any devices trying to read it. Other shields simply place a barrier between the card and the reader which is not 100% effective against more powerful signals.
In addition, the Guard Bunny will also do something else that’s really cool. When a pickpocket tries to scan the credit card protected by the device, it lets out a high pitched alarm sound and the bunny eyes light up.
Although Paget admits that even the Guard Bunny will not be able to protect against more sophisticated technology, she says it will still be adequate enough to put the majority of these pickpockets out of business.
A fool proof way to stop the chips from working altogether is to put them in the microwave to fry them. Unfortunately this could also cause the card to catch fire.
Stay tuned to CreditCardsProfessor.com for more of the latest information regarding RFID security as well as other important credit card offers and cardholder updates.
Source: Forbes.com
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