31 ms·
I've got a question about the chip cards. I have one and I use it when possible. I often hear that the reason to use them is that they are harder and more expen
by dopamean 10y ago
I've got a question about the chip cards. I have one and I use it when possible. I often hear that the reason to use them is that they are harder and more expensive to copy than cards with just a magnetic strip. This seems like a pretty weak deterrent. If everyone starts using chips wouldn't the price of creating cloned cards with chips go down? Wouldn't it eventually become worthwhile to criminals? Or do the chips provide another layer of security that I'm unaware of?
- coffeevradar 10y agoThe most important difference is the presence of encryption in the case of chip cards. Magnetic strips offer their data in plain text form when swiped through any card reader.
- jkaptur 10y agoMy understanding is that the strip essentially encodes the credit card number, and that when you swipe it, you pass the number. Therefore, "stealing" the card is as easy as MITM-ing that (with a skimmer). The chip, on the other hand, answers a query that proves that it knows a secret. If the attacker listens to the exchange between the card and the reader, it doesn't learn the secret itself, and the next transaction will ask a different query.