UVA Student, Hackers Crack Credit Card Security Code
An encryption code used to protect billions of credit cards, subway passes and security badges is safe no more.
A University of Virginia graduate student and two fellow hackers say they have cracked the code used for tiny chips found inside many "smartcards" with readily available equipment that cost less than $1,000.
Twenty-six-year-old Karsten Nohl and his two German partners dismantled the chip and mapped out its secret security algorithm. They ran the formula through a computer program and broke the encryption after a few hours.
