Chips, and PINS
May. 9th, 2006 04:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sobriqueOK. So there's these smartcard chips in cards these days.
And in order to be able to use them, you need to key in your PIN.
This supposedly makes it more secure.
WHY OH WHY CAN YOU ONLY USE 4 DIGIT PINS.
Seriously, I can read what you're typing off your keyboard with a good degree of accuracy. It's really really trivial to see what someone typed on a PIN pad. And the best bit, is even if I miss one, and don't know whether it was 1,2 or 3 on that particular row or column, I can try all of them!
Now I'm not saying all pins should be a _mandatory_ 16 digits, but please don't limit me to the 'brain dead obvious' 4 digits.
And please, Supermarkets, those keypads are ALSO card readers. YOU DO NOT GET TO HOLD MY CARD. EVER.
If I can't secure it based on that blindingly trival number I type in, then I can at least try and prevent you cloning my card.
Grr.
And in order to be able to use them, you need to key in your PIN.
This supposedly makes it more secure.
WHY OH WHY CAN YOU ONLY USE 4 DIGIT PINS.
Seriously, I can read what you're typing off your keyboard with a good degree of accuracy. It's really really trivial to see what someone typed on a PIN pad. And the best bit, is even if I miss one, and don't know whether it was 1,2 or 3 on that particular row or column, I can try all of them!
Now I'm not saying all pins should be a _mandatory_ 16 digits, but please don't limit me to the 'brain dead obvious' 4 digits.
And please, Supermarkets, those keypads are ALSO card readers. YOU DO NOT GET TO HOLD MY CARD. EVER.
If I can't secure it based on that blindingly trival number I type in, then I can at least try and prevent you cloning my card.
Grr.
