RFID chips easy to hack

RFID chips have been shown relatively easy to hack, says InformationWeek.

That's the news coming from the University of Virginia after a grad student there, and two other researchers, cracked the code used to encrypt RFID chips.

The chip the students say they have cracked is the MiFare Classic, from NXP Semiconductors, a spin-off of electronics behemoth Philips.

Armaguard subsidiary ITS has won a $250 million contract to undertake a card upgrade nationally, which will ensure the ATM network accepts new microchip cards now being issued by banks and credit card companies, says Insider Retailing.

Europay MasterCard Visa chip cards are plastic, 'smart' debit and credit payment cards carrying an embedded microchip rather than a magnetic strip.

ITS will replace the majority of existing Cashcard ATM models from multiple manufacturers with Wincor Nixdorf ATMs, the first ATM manufacturer to be officially accredited by the Australian Payments Clearing Association.

The delivery of event tickets via mobile devices could save the industry money, says Direct Response.

Companies including Ticketmaster, British Airways and Tickets.com are said to have adopted mobile methods of ticket dissemination.

It followed last year's announcement by the International Air Transport Association that bar codes on handsets are to become a new standard, replacing conventional boarding passes.