Black Hat 2014: A New Smartcard Hack

By Mark Anderson

According to new research, chip-based “Smartcard” credit and debit cards—the next-generation replacement for magnetic stripe cards—are vulnerable to unanticipated hacks and financial fraud. Stricter security measures are needed, the researchers say, as well as increased awareness of changing terms-of-service that could make consumers bear more of the financial brunt for their hacked cards.

The work is being presented at this week’s Black Hat 2014 digital security conference in Las Vegas. Ross Anderson, professor of security engineering at Cambridge University, and co-authors have been studying the so-calledEuropay-Mastercard-Visa (EMV) security protocols behind emergingSmartcard systems. …[Read more]