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UK tech firm touts solution to contactless card fraud

June 6, 2013

About five years ago, touch-technology developers at U.K.-based Peratech began to warn of potential theft of data from contactless cards that rely on RFID for near field communication — namely, access cards, credit cards and passports. The company said that thieves could use readily available electronics or even a smartphone to read the data on such devices from several feet away without the cardholder even knowing it.

The issue was raised in recent report from the Newcastle University Center for Cybercrime and Computer Security, the company said in a recent news release. The problem? These contactless devices are always on and ready to interact even when in a wallet or deep in a bag.

This week in a press release, Peratech said it has developed a simple, inexpensive fix for the always-on problem. The solution incorporates ultrathin switch into the credit card or passport so that it is always off.

To use the contactless card, the cardholder simply presses the switch to activate the device for the fraction of a second needed for data communication. This ensures that the owner controls when — and by whom — data is collected.

The cardholder presses an embedded switch to enable data transmission.

The solution uses Peratch "Quantum Tunnelling Composites" in a 70-micron pressure-sensitive switch. This on/off control in the circuitry of the device is actually thinner than the RFID chip itself, and robust enough to be laminated into a credit cards when it is manufactured, according to Peratech.

What's more, the company said, QTC technology has no moving parts, requires no air gap between contacts and is robust enough to survive many years of switching on and off. The technology is used by the U.S. space program, NASA, and Japanese firm Nissha, a manufacture of dimensional plastic products.

The release did not say whether QTC technology was currently under consideration for use in RFID-equipped payment cards. Stay tuned.

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