Replicating magnetic cards
Richard A Childers (pascal@netcom.com)
Mon, 19 Sep 1994 22:13:37 -0700
( This is a bit off topic, but please wax tolerant. )
Previously, I observed :
"( I haven't had much faith in magnetic cards since I watched a BART card
get copied by two read/write heads, intervening circuitry, and a 9-volt
battery. [ BART == Bay Area Rapid Transit ] )"
Gee, willickers. I suppose I just succinctly explained how to replicate
BART ( and other ) cards. (-:
Needed to be said, though. You don't need a high school degree to do this
sort of trick.
-=8=-
I suppose I should point out that when you replicate a specific card, you
replicate *all* of the data on it. Such data is not just financial, but
also relates to space and time, IE, when did you buy it, and where. It is
a virtual certainty that any such strip contains a day/time/locale stamp.
Replicating such a stamp is certain to set off auditing alarms when you use
the same day/time/locale-stamped card, in two different locations, at two
different times, with two divergent histories .. and is a good way to get
yourself on television, being indicted. ... There are better ways, no ? (-:
( As I pointed out to the person who demonstrated this scheme. As you can
imagine, it did not penetrate, and they ended up on the evening news in
quite the wrong way. < sigh > )
'Nuff sed. |-:
-- richard
Law : The science of assigning responsibility.
Politics : The art of _distributing_ responsibility.
richard childers san francisco, california pascal@netcom.com