Howard Lester wrote:
>> This is a Visa card. Scary to think what the hackers will do with these
>> things.
>>
>
> FWIW, check out item 11 on the Chase website:
>
> http://www.chaseblink.com/faq_cc.asp
>
Being in the CS field, this does not jive with most information I have.
That's not to say their cards are not different, as I don't have
information on which specific system they are using. The "typical" RFID
tag can be read with sensitive equipment from well over 40' and that
includes passports (which weren't encrypted). Some reports say up to 150'.
A recent symposium covered the failings and easy cracking of RFID tags.
One of the companies that uses a very simple algorithm managed to get a
court injunction to stop the lecture. Of course the lecture was already
on CD which had been handed out to those who signed up for it in
advance.<:-)) All the injunction did was to prevent professionals who
had an interest from keeping up-to-date, although the information became
widely available.
There are a number of iterations of a number of systems in use.
Multiple layers of encryption are coming into play so *eventually* being
able to read the "chip" will not provide useful information without
running the proper algorithm to process the data. OTOH *nothing* is
100% secure.
Staying on topic, originally these were to run on the lower portion of
the 440 band..probably around 433 give or take a tad. Fortunately I
know of none still in that range. OTOH me not knowing doesn't prove squat.
Can you imagine pulling into your local UPS/FED-X, or Walley World
parking lot while running 50 watts on 440 if they were still using that
band for sensitive card reading. They only need get near the packages
to know if they are there. The same for box cars full of merchandise.
Or, living next door to one and trying to do some weak signal work on
the band?
Doc mentioned the health issues and power. Even the "high power" units
are no where near the exposure limits. I think most are now in the 900
MHz range.
Passports have already gone to RFID while driver's licenses are soon to
follow. However the PP comes with a metallic sleeve to prevent
inadvertent reading.
> They say the card must be placed within one inch of the reader, and oriented
> correctly. I'm not promoting Blink, just providing their information.
>
More than likely that is due to the power of the signal emitted by the
reader and the sensitivity of the receiver in the reader. Given a bit
more power, plus an antenna and they can be read from a much greater
distance. However If theirs is really that position specific there would
be little to be gained by changing from the swipe strip to the RFID tag.
Be it one inch or swipe, it might just as well be swipe it through the
reader.
At least they aren't in an area where RFI should be a problem.
73
Roger (K8RI)
> N7SO
>
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