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Are "RFID" Credit cards safe

May 17, 2012   ·   0 Comments

Nassau Bahamas – May 18, 2012 – (www.hospitalitybusinessnews.com) The current “big thing” in credit cards is – tap and pay – New credit cards issued by American Express, amoung other companies, have RFID chips installed in the credit card. This is similar to the new passports which are being issued in many countries around the world. When a person “taps and pays” with one of these credit cards the RFID chip sends a signal to the receiving credit card machine. Therefore there is no need to swipe the card. In fact the act of tapping is simply to ensure that the credit card is close enough for the machine to pick up the information. These credit cards are always broadcasting. So anyone close enough to you can get the same information as the credit card companies do.

But are these cards safe? Well, according to The Hospitality Security Consulting Group maybe not. On a recent blog entry they said:

“The increasingly popular radio frequency identification (RFID) credit cards that allow consumers to pay by tapping may be making it easier for crooks to steal valuable information with their smartphones.

Tech savvy hackers can develop a smartphone app or game that looks harmless, but when it gets close enough to an RFID card, the app launches and scans the card’s information and sends the details off to the hacker’s email address.”

See for yourself on the video below. . .

By erichertha

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