rfid and credit cards

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   I am starting a new project with my students. As always when they get to 

choose we end up with controversial subjects. We will address the safety and 

security of the rfid credit cards. I am looking for some general information 

regarding the chips inside of these credit cards, such as pay pass and blink 

and so on. What is the rfid protocol that is used in these chips? What 

frequency do they operate on? What kind of reader would be needed for 

anyone to read the information on these cards. Is it at all possible to read 

the information on these cards from a distance of say 3 feet? If it is...what 

kind of reader, equipment would be needed? I am thankful for all answers. I 

have a feeling my students are going to tell me most of these answers, but I 

want to be as prepared as I can get.

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gulator Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 20 June 2009 Status: Offline Points: 1	Post Options Post Reply Quote gulator Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: rfid and credit cards Posted: 20 June 2009 at 8:17pm
	I am starting a new project with my students. As always when they get to choose we end up with controversial subjects. We will address the safety and security of the rfid credit cards. I am looking for some general information regarding the chips inside of these credit cards, such as pay pass and blink and so on. What is the rfid protocol that is used in these chips? What frequency do they operate on? What kind of reader would be needed for anyone to read the information on these cards. Is it at all possible to read the information on these cards from a distance of say 3 feet? If it is...what kind of reader, equipment would be needed? I am thankful for all answers. I have a feeling my students are going to tell me most of these answers, but I want to be as prepared as I can get.

amal Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Visit Members Homepage Add to Buddy List Admin Group Joined: 22 November 2005 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 2062	Post Options Post Reply Quote amal Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 21 June 2009 at 8:21pm
	Hi there, Credit cards use a 15.56MHz (HF) frequency, standard ISO protocol chipset with encryption methods employed to attempt to protect the RFID data transmission session as well as the credit card data itself. The problem with the whole deal centers squarely on two facts: 1) The RFID readers embedded into contactless payment counter top payment solutions contain the decryption algorithms and methods to obtain and transmit the plain text credit card data to the payment terminal via standard RS232 serial communications. 2) Anyone can buy one of these readers (called contactless terminals by the CC industry). Just connect the payment terminal up to your PC or portable laptop and write some simple software to interact with it, and you've got yourself a credit card skimmer. The reader will spit out name, credit card number, and other useful information upon a successful read. Using one of these readers, one could attempt to enhance the reader's range and get reads at greater distances. I don't consider getting a 3 foot read range to be impossible. I could get into the details of the actual encryption details, but as you can see it's unnecessary. There are also other posts on this forum that deal with credit cards and security. Check those out and post back if you have any other questions.
	Amal ;) www.amal.net