Posted on 01/14/2015 4:50:45 AM PST by IamConservative
If you have a recently issued credit or debit card, there is a very good chance it has an RFID chip in it that will transmit your card information to any nearby reader. Many of the newer model smartphones are RFID enabled and make it possible for someone standing next to you in line at the grocery store or at the train station to steal your identity and your money.
Just wanted to raise awareness of this risk and create an opportunity to share ideas on how to mitigate this risk.
I disabled the chip in my cards with a 16 gauge finish nail fired through the chip.
This is not exactly RFID in the conventional sense this is Near Field Communication, NFC.
It works at the same 13.56 Mhz frequency as EPC Global RFID but is much shorter in range. In addition, it uses only the Magnetic field component NOT an electromagnetic field like conventional RF communications so a non-ferromagnetic material like Aluminum will not shield it.
Two words, both start with CA. The first one is very insecure, subject to fraud and theft and is 100% trackable. The second one is 100% secure and completely untrackable but, unfortunately, still has the theft problem.
CARD
CASH
I much prefer the second alternative. About the only time I use the first alternative is when I buy something from the Internet.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NFC-ACR122U-RFID-Contactless-smart-Reader-Writer-USB-SDK-Mifare-IC-Card-/141264432708?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20e4042e44
Interesting comment. Not completely doubting you ;-) but how in physics are you transmitting data using only magnetism?
NFC and RFID indeed are not quite the same. BUT. If you can ‘excite’ the chip, you induce voltage and info is transmitted, right?
open to education here.
OK ...
here’s some good gouge: http://apcmag.com/inside-nfc-how-near-field-communication-works.htm
“NFC works using magnetic induction: a reader emits a small electric current which creates a magnetic field that in turn bridges the physical space between the devices. That field is received by a similar coil in the client device where it is turned back into electrical impulses to communicate data such as identification number status information or any other information. So-called ‘passive’ NFC tags use the energy from the reader to encode their response while ‘active’ or ‘peer-to-peer’ tags have their own power source and respond to the reader using their own electromagnetic fields.
Like RFID NFC works in the 13.56MHz radiofrequency spectrum using less than 15mA of power to communicate data over distances that are usually far less than 20cm. Tags typically store between 96 and 512 bytes of data and transfer data using at speeds of 106Kb/s 212Kb/s 424Kb/s or 848Kb/s – enough to move small pieces of information virtually instantaneously as is essential in high-volume transport applications.”
Identity theft is the same as pregnancy, ABSTINENCE works 100% of the time. If you have NO CREDIT CARDS and pay for everything in CASH, all these Card Condoms are not needed.
My understanding as well. The thing that brought this issue to the forefront again for me is that the newer smartphones have NFC chips in them. The NFC feature is what enables Google Wallet and ApplePay. Unfortunately, this also puts an NFC reader in nearly everyone's pocket. I personally know 2 people who have been "scanned" in the past 6 weeks. Until the card companies implement the "pin" half of the chip and pin technology, we are all vulnerable to this theft. This is what lead me to disabling my chips.
From a physics standpoint, there is no RF transmission in NFC, more of an electromagnetic coupling, similar to a transformer. The antenna is very different and is designed not to propagate a full electromagnetic field.
In antennas we have three different fields, the reactive field, the near field and the far field.
In the reactive field the area around the antenna is actually a circuit element and the operation of the antenna can be altered by objects in this field.
The antenna far field is some distance away and is best thought of of where the the electromagnetic field is organized into that is commonly referred to as radio waves or RF.
The near field is a region in between these two where the electromagnetic wave is unorganized and either a magnetic or electric can dominate.
NFC uses the magnetic field as a coupling mechanism primary because the human body is a salty bag of water that attenuates electric fields but magnetic fields not so much.
I would love to see how this was done, from a professional viewpoint.
The NFC transponder chips themselves are cheap and available on DigiKey.
The antenna is not so easy. I would imagine it would be about the size of a hockey puck and would have to oriented in three axis properly. Even so I have a hard time believing this could be done at anything over 2 meters.
I use a leather business card holder as my wallet. Very slim even with driver’s license, health ID cards, 3 credit cards and my Costco card (got to have that); and cash with receipts for the day.
The government would love to get rid of cash. Tax receipts would skyrocket.
Which is one reason why I make NO ELECTRONIC TRANSACTIONS EVER. I just cannot find a viable reason to give a scumbag money-changer anything just to spend what is mine already.
Correct, but unless you are paid in cash (and keep it under the mattress) you need a bank account from which to draw the cash. Paper/electronic trail, big-time. Red flags galore for the government intruders. Who deals in cash? Drug dealers, prostitutes, terrorists, patriots in firearms deals...
Card condoms will protect against garden-variety thieves, but not against the bigger threat.
It’ll be coming soon enough to your driver’s license as well.
Me too. Goes into front pocket.
Carry significant cash for a vacation and the police may seize it on suspicion.
“2 words....aluminum foil”
Over your card. . .or over your head. . .?
Couldn’t resist.
: P
My AZ license is good til I turn 65, and it does not have a chip, I got it when they still handed them out over the counter right then.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.