IP: more re: smart card cracked in France

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

> Reply-To: <kgb () kgb com>
> From: "Kevin G. Barkes" <kgb () kgb com>
> To: <farber () cis upenn edu>
> \
> > >  The card formula was posted anonymously on Internet chat site last
> > >  weekend. It was actually discovered three years ago by
> > computer whizz kid
> > >  Serge Humpich, who denies using it or circulating but has been given a
> > >  10-month suspended prison sentence for cracking the banks' secret.
>
> A 36-year-old "kid"?
>
> Some additional information from the last issue of the KGB Report:
>
> Consider Serge Humpich, 36, a French computer programmer, who in his spare
> time over a period of four years developed a counterfeit "smart card" which
> could fool all of the French banking system's electronic point of sale
> terminals. This meant, according to an article in The Register, he could
> pick out all 35 million French PINs (personal identification numbers) used
> on Visa and other credit cards.
>
> Serge told the banks of the gap in their security, and offered to point out
> the weaknesses in their systems for a mere £20,000,000, far less than what
> it would cost to replace all the credit card terminals in France.
>
> Prove it, the banks said. So, using one of his homemade cards, Serge bought
> ten Paris Metro tickets from a machine that didn't seem to notice it was
> being duped. He sent the tickets and receipts on to the credit card company
> as the requested proof of their system's vulnerability.
>
> In response to its friendly little challenge, the credit card company sent
> 40 policemen to Serge's house, seized all his computer equipment and managed
> to get him fired from his job The prosecutor in the case has recommended a
> two-year suspended sentence and a £5,000 fine, which seems a bit stiff for
> taking up the banks' invitation to filch some Metro tickets which he
> returned anyway.
>
> Regards,
>
> KGB
>
> -----
> Kevin G. Barkes, President <> KGB Consulting, Inc.
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