Stephen A. Lawrence <sa...@pobox.com> wrote: And of course it can read the RfID chip in your credit card as well, so > there's no real need to even pause -- you'll (eventually) automatically pay > for everything in your cart simply by leaving the store. >
That is what is shown in the IBM ad. That is the goal. > And of course anyone in the area with the right kind of equipment (stashed > in a briefcase, in their pocket, or in the van parked outside) can read > your credit card info too, as well as obtaining a list of everything you > bought. That is a legitimate concern, but I think that can be prevented. RFiD tags are already in use, and there are security concerns already. For example, trucks loaded with designer clothes could be detected by the methods you describe. The reader technology is being developed with security in mind. I think you will have to be authorized with a password to get into the database of RFiD codes or to operate equipment. In the early days of ATM machines and electronic credit card readers people raised similar legitimate concerns. They were addressed, with considerable effort and ingenuity. I am not saying security is easy. Note also that anyone can now get a list of most of the things you bought by taking a photo of the shopping cart in the store. We do not have perfect security. Vans parked in parking lots engaged in nefarious digital crimes are not unheard of. A few years ago a band of high tech thieves parked at night in front of stores such as Target and tapped into wifi and digital transmissions of credit card transactions. I don't know how they did it, but they stole a lot of money. A policewoman caught them early in the morning and arrested them. I guess for trespassing. I gather she did not know what they were up to but they seemed suspicious. The reporter said something like, "she figured they were not playing video games at three in the morning in a van full of equipment." > And they can probably backtrack it to you, so they know who you are, as > well as what you're buying. "Only works in the near-field of the card" ... > but how "near" is "near"? 1 m or 12 m depending on the type of RFiD tag. The ones used for grocery products would need a short range. Otherwise, someone walking by the store eating a banana may be accidentally charged for it. There were problems like that with some of the early bar code readers, with tags that got stuck to shopping carts. I am sure the credit card and license RFiD tags will be encoded and secured. The CIA or the Mafia may be able to break into them but I doubt ordinary street punk hackers will. There have been tremendous security problems with the Internet and Russian mobs and whatnot. The Internet was not designed for security, and retrofitting it has been a nightmare. I do not think the next big technology will be rolled out with similar built in weaknesses. As I said, ATMs were not. - Jed
