MythBusters scrap RFID talk as credit card giants play the money card

by Steve Ragan - Sep 3 2008, 11:23

If you're reading this, odds are you know who Adam Savage is, as are the odds that you watch Discovery Channel’s MythBusters.

MythBusters talk scrapped at the whim of credit card companies. (IMG:SXC)

In a recent Q&A at the HOPE (Hackers of Planet Earth) conference, Savage was asked when the show would cover RFID. It turns out that they wanted to, but the segment was scrapped because Discovery baulked at the risk of losing money from the likes of American Express, Discover, and Visa. “Dude the RFID thing... I’m sorry, it’s not gonna happen,” Savage said, adding: “I’m not sure how much of this story I’m allowed to tell, but I’ll tell ya what I know...”The use of RFID has been around for some time and, for the most part, it is a great tool. Recent examples would be the mass evacuation of New Orleans where RFID was used to keep track of families as they left the city. Hospitals use it to keep track of newborn babies, and retail stores can use it to track their inventory. While the positives are certainly there, there are also privacy and security concerns to talk about. The best example of failed RFID would be the MiFare Classic chip, where the RFID security offered was cracked wide open, thanks to well-established testing and proof. However, NXP, the company that makes MiFare Classic, has long maintained that its technology is secure, despite proof otherwise from several sources. Boston, acting on a heads-up from NXP, sued three students and had a gag order issued to prevent them from talking about RFID, the weak design of the MiFare Classic chip, and the CharlieCard that uses it. While the gag was eventually lifted, the students are still facing a lawsuit. Now it would seem that American Express, Visa, and Discover want to keep their RFID security a secret. They went as far as to tell the Discovery Channel, point blank, that there would be no testing of the RFID technology and its security. Discovery, reliant on such companies for its revenue, subsequently backed away from the topic and MythBusters was duly forced to scrap its planned project. The video below is the complete answer and story from MythBusters’ Adam Savage, stripped from the larger HOPE session video.

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MythBusters scrap RFID talk as credit card giants play the money card

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