[LINK] Go Card value transferred over phone

[Jan Whitaker]

[looks like the Qld system may not be that secure]
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/go-card-hacked-user-says-funds-transferred-without-consent-20100109-lzqk.html
http://tinyurl.com/y8pp4qd

Go Card hacked: user says funds transferred without consent
DARREN CARTWRIGHT
January 10, 2010 - 6:12AM

Queensland's Transport Minister Rachel Nolan has again been called on 
to defend paperless public transport ticketing go cards after a 
security breach, with funds transferred without the owner's consent.

A commuter says the entire balance of his Go Card was transferred to 
another account without his permission.

Nick Smith, 27, who is a Nine Network cameraman, told Ms Nolan 
yesterday that that his Go Card had never left his wallet yet someone 
accessed his account.

After he discovered the problem on Friday, he called TransLink and 
was advised his funds had been transferred over the phone the night 
before, he told the minister.

"I had to give my name, address and my password when I was talking to 
TransLink over the phone," Mr Smith told AAP.

"If someone transferred the money how did they have my password and 
my card number? The card has never left my wallet."

The Go Cards can be linked to bank accounts and sensitive personal data.

Ms Nolan initially put the error down to a computer glitch until she 
realised the seriousness of the problem and the potential theft of funds.

She said the system was secure and commuters should not be alarmed by 
Mr Smith's predicament.

"We have to check this out as I can't explain the specific software 
problem in this case," she said.

"The system has a great deal of protocol to make this secure."

A TransLink spokesman said Mr Smith's complaint was the first of its kind.

"The transfer of one card to another is not something that I have 
heard of before and one I will look into it," he said.

Ms Nolan has been under pressure over the ticketless system following 
a 40 per cent increase in paper tickets this year.

The price spike was to force people to switch to go cards which only 
rose 20 per cent.

But, it has been revealed that 110 out of 144 railway stations across 
the southeast do not sell Go Cards making it extremely difficult for 
commuters to use the system.


Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jwhit at janwhitaker.com
blog: http://janwhitaker.com/jansblog/
business: http://www.janwhitaker.com

Our truest response to the irrationality of the world is to paint or 
sing or write, for only in such response do we find truth.
~Madeline L'Engle, writer

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