In the past two weeks, a US hacker managed to compromise over eight million credit cards and experts revealed that the PIN code on ATM cards could be cracked in only 15 attempts by a bank insider. SA banks have announced that they will adopt new security standards to make PIN numbers more difficult to crack.
These are just the latest in a string of reports about compromised security of hi-tech financial products and services. Encryption codes on financial products seem to have the appeal of Mount Everest - people feel obliged to crack them "just because they are there". Once done, any techie who needs a little spending money can feel free to wriggle through the cracks and commandeer consumers` credit card information - either to go shopping or to hold them "hostage" en masse until the finance companies pay a ransom to free them.
Encryption codes on financial products seem to have the appeal of Mount Everest - people feel obliged to crack them "just because they are there".
Tracy Burrows, journalist, ITWeb
The finance houses and security companies are quick to defend the breaches, promising that consumers` pockets aren`t affected and that tougher new measures will be introduced to foil any such cracking in future. At the risk of alienating these companies, I must say that to the average wage earner it`s all a little alarming.
Not only are Joe Soap`s full personal details available for any hacker worth his salt to peruse, but now poor old Joe`s credit card is also just waiting to be annexed. While I have great faith in the clever software developers and encryption experts who come up with newer and better ways to protect information, I am just as certain that there are hordes of clever geeks able to get through the new security protocols just for fun.
Having seen how impressively a good hacker can get through practically any security, I`m almost resigned to finding sooner or later that my own credit card has gone shopping without me.
Share