Not fare: Hacker app resets subway card for free rides (w/ Video)
Sunday, September 23, 2012 - 05:30
in Mathematics & Economics
(Phys.org)—You have to love the ease and convenience of NFC technology in smartphones. Unless you run a mass transit system in a major city that moves millions of people in and out of trains, morning noon and night, then love alone is not enough. As fares form a crucial part of transit system revenue to keep everything running, system administrators would need to take note of what security hackers accomplished—an app that takes advantage of a weakness in NFC-based subway cards that lets users ride on trains for free. The two researchers, Corey Benninger and Max Sobell, from the Intrepidus Group, figured out a way that replenishes a fare-card balance.