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Safety in numbers? Early experiences in the age of chip and PIN
Furnell SM
Computer Fraud & Security, April, pp4-7, 2006

Most of us are now very familiar with the requirement to prove our identity to an IT system. For many, it is a regular task on PCs, mobile devices and online services. However, authenticating ourselves has been a more long-standing requirement in a more general scenario – namely the use of debit and credit cards when we want to get access to our money or pay for purchases. Swiping cards and signing for purchases has been a routine act for many shoppers. Unfortunately, vulnerabilities in this approach have increasingly been exploited by criminal groups, with predictions that annual losses would rise to £800 million by 2005 if changes were not introduced to combat fraud.

Furnell SM