Where there are systems for financial transactions, there will always be opportunities to skirt those systems, and that holds true for NFC transactions, too. Researchers have already demonstrated a hack for
Android NFC that lets them refill fare card balances for transit systems, including subways, in two states.
The key to the hack is UltraReset, which was developed by researchers Corey Benninger and Max Sobell at Intrepidus Group. The researchers used the app to successfully refill balances on fare cards in New Jersey and San Francisco, using the app on Android phones that have
NFC capabilities. Using a legitimate transit card, they simply stored the balance via the app, used up the balance, and then returned the balance to the NFC-based card. They haven’t tested other transit system that use NFC, but suggested that Boston, Chicago, Salt Lake City, and Seattle are among those that might be at risk to this sort of attack.
Joshua Gulick
Josh cut his teeth (and hands) on his first PC upgrade in 2000 and was instantly hooked on all things tech. He took a degree in English and tech writing with him to
Computer Power User Magazine and spent years reviewing high-end workstations and gaming systems, processors, motherboards, memory and video cards. His enthusiasm for PC hardware also made him a natural fit for covering the burgeoning modding community, and he wrote
CPU’s “Mad Reader Mod” cover stories from the series’ inception until becoming the publication editor for
Smart Computing Magazine. A few years ago, he returned to his first love, reviewing smoking-hot PCs and components, for
HotHardware. When he’s not agonizing over benchmark scores, Josh is either running (very slowly) or spending time with family.
