Attackers Tamper With Credit Card Scanners To Steal Personal Data
from the bait-and-switch dept
A recently announced vulnerability of Chip and PIN payment terminals in the UK was predicated on the idea that attackers could somehow remove the devices and then replace them with something identical looking that would swipe information off of shoppers' payment cards. There were a few aspects of the attack that seemed impractical, but perhaps the removal of the machine was not one of them. This week, in Boston, a supermarket chain announced that attackers had stolen data from many of the store's customers by removing and modifying a few credit card readers. How the attackers got the readers to transmit the data back to them is unclear, as the store is remaining tight-lipped on the technical details of the attack. Of course, it now says that it has locked down all of its readers so as to prevent this from happening again. That seems like an obviously good idea; why is it, though, that these measures like these are only taken after a breach?Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
seriously
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
No Organization is Perfect
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2007/02/19/stop__shop_reports_credit_data_was_st olen/
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
I wanna know...
How the attackers got the readers to transmit the data back to them is unclear, as the store is remaining tight-lipped on the technical details of the attack.
How did the attacker get their hands on the machines to modify them?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
How did they do it?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Security Measures...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]