Smart card aims to fight fraud

[Peter Fairbrother]

> Charles Lindsey wrote:

> On Tue, 12 Mar 2002 23:13:02 -0000
> "Peter Tomlinson" <pwt@iosis.co.uk> said...
> 
>> 
>> I think this is a spoof.
> 
> I don't see why, given the assumption that it is meant to plug in to the
> merchant's machine like the new-fangled smart credit cards, and not to
> operate via the magnetic stripe.

That's not what their website says -

"The PIN decrypts the cardholder's account number, which is displayed on the
LCD and written to the magnetic stripe."

Good trick, if they can do it. Maybe they just disable the mag stripe unless
the correct PIN is entered, but -

"Correct PIN entry dynamically changes the card's LCD and magnetic stripe to
include the Dynamic Authentication Code."

Perhaps they have small electromagnets in the stripe that are only activated
for a minute or so.

Raises all sorts of interesting possibilities...

-- Peter Fairbrother