Researchers Create “On/Off” Switch For More Secure Credit Card Protection
Posted by maira | February 20th, 2012 | General Information
There can never be enough protection for our credit cards. As the saying goes, “It’s better to be safe than sorry.” Thankfully university researchers from the Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering are aware of this, and therefore have designed a plan that will add an extra layer of security to prevent credit card RFID (radio frequency ID chips) and NFC (near-field communication cards) theft.
Hopefully soon, most credit card payments will be made via scanning instead of swiping one’s card. Although this new form of technology – called Tap and Pay – provides a more convenient and simple solution for credit card transactions, it can also potentially open the door to more cases of fraud. That’s why researchers in Pittsburgh have thought of an idea that would eliminate this security loophole – with an “on/off” switch.
The only way credit card information would be transmitted with an “on/off” switch is if the card owner holds his thumb over a designated area of the card, thus activating it and turning it “on.” Without the card being depressed at the contact location, no credit card data can be transferred.
Marlin Mickle, the Nickolas A. DeCecco Professor of Engineering and executive director of the RFID Center for Excellence in the Swanson School explains:
“Our new design integrates an antenna and other electrical circuitry that can be interrupted by a simple switch, like turning off the lights in the home of office. The RFIC or NFC credit card is disabled if left in a pocket or lying on a surface and unreadable by thieves using portable scanners … This solution is simple and very inexpensive to integrate into the RFIC and NFC credit card manufacturing process.”
He goes on to state that a patent application has been filed and they hope “to see the technology quickly adopted, once approved.”
Tags: contactless payment, credit card data, Credit Card Fraud, credit card protection, credit card theft, NFC, on and on switch, Pittsburgh Swanson School, Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering, RFID, Tap and Pay, Tap and Pay technology, university researchers
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