[LINK] RFI: PayWave/PayPass Contactless Chip Cards

[Kim Holburn]

On 2012/Apr/11, at 4:20 PM, Stephen Wilson wrote:
> Actually no, it's all in the one chip now.  A single "dual interface" 
> chip talks to the outside world through either the gold plated contacts 
> you see on the surface, or an antenna buried in the plastic.  Scratching 
> off the contacts need not affect the wireless channel.  Very 
> sophisticated smartcards can detect damage to the contacts or other 
> elements of the electronics and respond by self-destructing, but banks 
> don't invest in that level of security.

With some security cards I recently had something to do with recently, the people issuing them were punching a slot in the cards so the users could put a small strap in them.  On some cards the slot broke the aerial and the wireless function stopped working.  I suppose if you could work out where the aerial ran, you could punch a small hole in the card and cut the aerial but wouldn't that void the card?

-- 
Kim Holburn
IT Network & Security Consultant
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