Chip drives cons online

As anti-fraud measures seem to be closing one door on thieves, figures show that fraudsters are turning increasingly to the Internet with scams such as "phishing", as "card not present" fraud increased by nearly one-third in the latest six-month period, reports the UK`s Times Online.

The statistics, from Apacs, the Association for Payment Clearing Services, showed that fraud on credit cards through Internet, mail order and telephone sales where a card`s details are provided but the card is not seen by the trader had grown by 29% to lb90.6 million. At lb58 million, Internet card fraud now accounts for more than a quarter of all losses, as fraudsters are driven increasingly online for their ill-gotten profits thanks, in part at least, to the apparent success of other security measures, such as "chip and pin".

The introduction of chip and pin cards has helped reduce credit and debit card fraud by 13%. Plastic card fraud totalled lb219.4 million during the six months to the end of June, down from lb252.6 million during the same period of the previous year, according to Apacs.

Chevron plans to eliminate the last of 50 000 network passwords early next year, finalising a transition to a smart card-based system designed to increase security and privacy dramatically while cutting costs.

CIO Today reports that in January users in 200 countries and in 1 800 offices worldwide will have no other means to log on to the network and gain access to resources other than their Chevron SmartBadge, a plastic card with three chips that support building and network access, desktop logon and single sign-on to nearly 3 000 applications.

The passwords death is a milestone four years in the making. During that time, the oil giant has been rolling out SmartBadge and the infrastructure to support two-factor authentication on a single card as its corporate identity, privacy and security standard.

Membership of the Smart Card Alliance, the not-for-profit, multi-industry association working to stimulate the understanding and widespread application of smart card technology, has grown by over 45% in the last year, with 54 new organisations becoming members.

The alliance`s rapid growth highlights the strong growth that is predicted for the smart card industry in the Americas, reports ECN Asia. Frost & Sullivan predicts that the smart card industry will grow rapidly in North America, at a 27.7% compound annual rate over the next five years, from the 132.2 million cards shipped last year. The report predicts even greater growth in Latin America, a 59% compound annual growth rate over the next five years, from 136.4 million cards shipped in 2004.

"As the smart card industry grows, we are growing with it," said Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the Smart Card Alliance. "What is particularly exciting about this growth is that we are pulling members from new industries and technologies. This really demonstrates how widespread the adoption of smart cards is becoming."

Fast-growing categories of new members include organizations involved in computer hardware and software, card technology, security products and services, healthcare, financial services and transportation.