Smart Card Alliance disputes contactless security report

Smart Card Alliance disputes contactless security report
Tags: Financial Self-Service, Retail Self-Service, Security
November 13, 2006

ePaynews: The Smart Card Alliance has dismissed claims by a group of U.S. researchers of a potential security loophole in RFID contactless payment cards.

Last month, the researchers reported that they carried out tests with 20 RFID-enabled credit cards to see if they could read data being transmitted over the air. They then demonstrated to a New York Times reporter that a cardholder's name and other data, which could include the card number and expiration date, were leaked in plaintext to an unauthenticated card reader.

Randy Vanderhoof, executive director at the U.S.-based Smart Card Association, says these tests were carried out in laboratory conditions and would not happen in real life.