[Gllug] Oyster cards vulnerable?

[Bruce Richardson]

On Wed, Jan 23, 2008 at 05:10:06PM +0000, Ryan wrote:
> > So, folks, watch out for anyone trying to sneakily hold an RFID reader to your
> > pocket....
> 
> I know you were (half?) joking  but assuming they do read your Oyster -
> what good would it do them?
> If they can put the cash on another card then they could do that without
> reading yours. If they can only read your card then it does them little
> good doesn't it?

But there isn't any cash being put on the *card*, is there?  AFAIK,
Oyster is RFID based and the card simply contains a unique identifier
and space to store extra information that isn't actually vital to the
primary function of the card as an electronic ID.  Card readers check a
central system to see how much credit you have, so if somebody
duplicates the card then they have access to your credit.

-- 
Bruce

A problem shared brings the consolation that someone else is now
feeling as miserable as you.
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: signature.asc
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 196 bytes
Desc: Digital signature
URL: <http://mailman.lug.org.uk/pipermail/gllug/attachments/20080124/91793547/attachment.pgp>
-------------- next part --------------
-- 
Gllug mailing list  -  Gllug at gllug.org.uk
http://lists.gllug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/gllug