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| Is This The End Of The Oyster Card? |
| Tuesday, July 22, 2008 at 20:08 by Peter Smith |
It may have been an integral part of the London Transport system for some time but if plans to release a hack for the card are released in October this may spell the end for London's flexible friend. A judge has given researchers at Radboud University permission to release details of their earlier findings, findings which allowed them to travel free on the underground for 24 hours. So what next?
While many see this as closure on the saga, the fact is that it may just be the start of a larger problem with experts concerned that the data due to be released will highlight serious flaws in the system and allow others to tamper with the card and obtain free travel. There is also a worry that private data held on the Oyster database may be at risk.
Interestingly a number of experts in the field of security systems are already suggesting that many criminals have been aware of these flaws in the card for some time. If this is the case then NXP, who make the Oyster card, will need to take a serious look at the security surrounding the system. More to the point, consumers will no doubt be the ones who have to pay for any changes!
A Transport for London spokesperson said:
"Security is the key aspect of the Oyster system and Londoners can have
confidence in the security of their Oyster card and personal data. We
run daily tests for cloned or fraudulent cards and any found would be
stopped within 24 hours of being discovered. Therefore the most anyone
could gain from a rogue card is one day's travel. Using a fraudulent
card for free travel is subject to prosecution." |
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