ETH researchers warn: Visa credit card security breach discovered – News

• Researchers at ETH Zurich have discovered a security breach in Visa credit cards.
• This would allow scammers to debit card amounts that would actually have to be confirmed with a PIN code.
• Other companies like Mastercard or American Express are not affected, according to ETH.

Credit cards that allow contactless payments are popular. They can be used to pay small amounts quickly and easily at checkout. At the same time, they are considered safe because larger sums can only be loaded after entering a security code.

However, due to the discovered security breach, the PIN code for Visa credit cards is basically useless. Scammers could debit money without a code, says computer scientist Jorge Toro-Pozo according to ETH’s announcement. ETH researchers have already informed Visa about the security breach.

Easy to fix problem

Closing the security gap would require little effort, according to them: three additions to the protocol would be enough for the next software update on the payment terminals. You don’t need to replace the cards, says Toro.

Since other companies such as Mastercard, American Express or JCB use a different protocol than Visa, these cards are not affected by the identified vulnerability. The gap can also exist with Discover and UnionPay cards.