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On track to smart card tests



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Published Date: 01 August 2008
ELECTRONIC smart cards could be tested on Scotland's busiest rail route with a view to revolutionising tickets.
Season ticket holders on the main Edinburgh-Glasgow line would see their documents replaced with credit-card size plastic passes which would enable tickets to be automatically renewed via bank direct debits.

Holders may even be able to use their
smart cards to automatically pay for one-off rail journeys on other routes without having to buy a separate ticket.

The cards would work in a similar way to Oyster cards in use on transport in London. Trials would start in three years' time after the necessary equipment has been installed.

They would be funded as part of £72 million of improvements pledged by First ScotRail as part of its seven-year franchise being extended by three years to 2014.

Gary Bogan, the head of franchise futures for the Scottish Government's Transport Scotland agency, which is responsible for the franchise, predicted smart cards would encourage more people to take the train.

He said: "The fewer impediments there are, the more likely that people are to travel."

Mr Bogan added that smart cards may also be used in the future as an "electronic purse", with which to buy items such as snacks on trains and at stations.





The full article contains 219 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 31 July 2008 9:39 PM
  • Source: The Scotsman
  • Location: Edinburgh
 
1

,

01/08/2008 00:23:39
Comment Removed By Administrator
Reason:
2

yockel,

01/08/2008 07:28:26
A smart card is an impediment unless you are already are regular user so introducing them is not going to encourage the use of public transport. Why is it politicos just love IT salesmen?

Oh forgot they have a budget (our money) to spend.
3

Destroy the Planet,

01/08/2008 08:22:12
"Dutch security researchers rode the London Underground free for a day after easily using an ordinary laptop to clone the “smartcards” commuters use to pay fares, a hack that highlights a serious security flaw because similar cards provide access to thousands of government offices, hospitals and schools.
The hackers scanned one of the Underground’s many card readers to collect the cryptographic key that purportedly keeps the system secure. The keys were uploaded to a laptop, essentially turning them into portable card readers. The hackers then brushed up against passengers to wirelessly upload the information on their Oyster cars. That information in hand, it was a simple matter of using it to program new cards.
The same technique can clone smartcards that provide access to secure buildings. An employee can be cloned by bumping into that person with a portable card reader, the person whose identity is being stolen may then be completely unaware that anything has happened."

"At the technical level there are currently no known countermeasures.”



Heres the crypto details for geeks -

http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~kn5f/Mifare.Cryptanalysis.htm
4

ddmc,

01/08/2008 11:32:21
#3 & the official response was to.....

block publication & threaten the researchers, security by obscurity at its best.
5

Why can't I use my usual name?,

01/08/2008 11:52:12
Everyone I know in London seems to like Oyster. It's not perfect (what is) but it's very popular. It doesn't work well with trains though, which might be a problem here.
6

Destroy the Planet,

01/08/2008 13:28:48
#4 The good news is the Dutch court in Arnheim has allowed the university to publish details of the research detailing the cryptographic cracking of the Oyster travel smartcard after as you correctly say threating comments from NXP Semiconductors to the researchers.

Its called freedom of expression (hint to the labour party)
7

Venachar,

01/08/2008 16:05:24
The MRT ticket system in Singapore works just fine for the Underground/Light rail system and buses. Why do we need three years testing when systems are inplace and proven elsewhere. Sounds like someone making a job for themselves.
8

zeno,

www.thinkhumanism.com 01/08/2008 20:00:53
Why can't I use my usual name? said: "It doesn't work well with trains though..." Why not? Is it the technology or the way they are used?

 

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