Cryptography Reference
In-Depth Information
Whether or not it is still desirable in view of the current terror-fighting hype
might be doubtful.
6.6.8 The PIN on an ATM Card
Probably the most frequently practiced cryptography in everyday life is PIN-
authentication at an automatic teller machine (ATM). It is understandable that
the question about the security of this system is on many card owners' minds,
and not without reason, as Figure 6.10 (though admittedly not current) shows. A
daily paper reported a yearly increase of 40 % in computer crime in 2001. Such
figures are not always reliable, of course. For one thing, the term 'computer
crime' is sloppy (some investigators may also use it for ATM card theft), and
second, nobody can estimate the number of unrecorded cases. But the trend is
there, and it's real.
Since this is a topic about cryptology, we won't discuss popular methods to
steal PINs in detail. These methods include, for example:
•
Using mounted mirrors to monitor the keyboard of an ATM (this has
happened at gas stations).
computer crime by card fraud
other credit card fraud
26000
22000
18000
14000
1993
1994
1995
Figure 6.10:
Criminal development of ATM card and credit card fraud.
