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the possibly accurate now
When I finally got myself a debit (as opposed to credit) card over here, one of the first things I purchased was a ticket for the Tube, aka an Oyster card. An Oyster card contains an RFID tag that keeps track of how much credit you've got and where you've been. You can top up the card yourself at ticket machines in the station by waving the card at the machine and picking the amount you'd like to credit the card with.
I was bemused and flabbergasted when I discovered that all I had to do to complete the transaction was slip my debit card into the machine! Maybe someone got an urgent phone call and thus left halfway through the "Something You Have and Something You Know" authentication lecture, causing them to implement only the "Something You Have" half that they heard. The implication of this is that merely by obtaining someone's debit card you can credit an Oyster card with up to £60 a day with NO authentication at all. Same thing in the majority of shops, they treat all transactions like credit transactions - you make up a squiggle that theoretically matches the squiggle on the back of the card but because it's a debit card not a credit card people don't ever bother to check the card. I've not been asked ONCE by the store people to look at the signature!
Anyway, the nightmare is over (theoretically) because today is Chip and PIN day - hurrah! Now we all have exciting little smart cards instead of a plain old mag-stripe card. I haven't really looked into these much yet but I'm assuming they're going to be a lot harder to read than the old mag stripes...sounds like a fun project finding out what other sensitive data they're keeping on there.
I think it was Paul Keating who uttered the famous quote "Australia is the arse end of the world". All I have to say on the matter is: If Australia is the arse end of the world, and has managed to have PIN number verification on debit card transactions for as long as I can remember (even in places like, say Yackamdandah, to pick somewhere in the middle of nowhere), then take me back to Arseland!
I must admit that I was more than a little surprised to find Australia seemingly on the leading edge of this kind of technology - after the last 7 months in London I'm not so surprised! From Andrew's blog it seems that the Americans seem to be laungishing in the same state of affairs.
category: /tech | permalink | Comments suspended due to spamwhores
Tue, 14 Feb 2006
[10:04] Happy Chip and PIN day!
Ahhh, technology. Only technology can bring us such marvelous slogans! And of course the logos (such as the one below) that go with them:
Chip and PIN is the new, more secure way to pay with credit or debit cards in the UK.OK, some changes to the way we pay for things here in Old Blighty. Let's move on to paragraph the second:
Instead of using your signature to verify payments, you will be asked to enter a four-digit Personal Identification Number (PIN) known only to you.This is just happening now. Surprised? Here's a little history:
When I finally got myself a debit (as opposed to credit) card over here, one of the first things I purchased was a ticket for the Tube, aka an Oyster card. An Oyster card contains an RFID tag that keeps track of how much credit you've got and where you've been. You can top up the card yourself at ticket machines in the station by waving the card at the machine and picking the amount you'd like to credit the card with.
I was bemused and flabbergasted when I discovered that all I had to do to complete the transaction was slip my debit card into the machine! Maybe someone got an urgent phone call and thus left halfway through the "Something You Have and Something You Know" authentication lecture, causing them to implement only the "Something You Have" half that they heard. The implication of this is that merely by obtaining someone's debit card you can credit an Oyster card with up to £60 a day with NO authentication at all. Same thing in the majority of shops, they treat all transactions like credit transactions - you make up a squiggle that theoretically matches the squiggle on the back of the card but because it's a debit card not a credit card people don't ever bother to check the card. I've not been asked ONCE by the store people to look at the signature!
Anyway, the nightmare is over (theoretically) because today is Chip and PIN day - hurrah! Now we all have exciting little smart cards instead of a plain old mag-stripe card. I haven't really looked into these much yet but I'm assuming they're going to be a lot harder to read than the old mag stripes...sounds like a fun project finding out what other sensitive data they're keeping on there.
I think it was Paul Keating who uttered the famous quote "Australia is the arse end of the world". All I have to say on the matter is: If Australia is the arse end of the world, and has managed to have PIN number verification on debit card transactions for as long as I can remember (even in places like, say Yackamdandah, to pick somewhere in the middle of nowhere), then take me back to Arseland!
I must admit that I was more than a little surprised to find Australia seemingly on the leading edge of this kind of technology - after the last 7 months in London I'm not so surprised! From Andrew's blog it seems that the Americans seem to be laungishing in the same state of affairs.
category: /tech | permalink | Comments suspended due to spamwhores