February 04, 2008
Taxi credit-card machines getting security upgrade
 Nearly half of the new credit-card machines in New York City taxis are getting a security upgrade after the it was learned the drivers could get online access to all their passengers' credit card numbers, the NY Sun repoorts today.
The Sun spells out the risk:
Drivers equipped with the Verifone technology who own and operate their own cabs have access to an itemized online log of their credit card transactions. Up until recently, those merchants had only to type in a user name and password on Verifone's Taxitronic Web site and click through a list of truncated credit card numbers to receive the full, unencrypted numbers and expiration dates of customers' cards. The machines at risk are made by Verifone, which is one of three companies that make the credit-card readers for NYC taxis, but they are in in 45 percent of the taxis that already have the equipment, according to the Sun.
As of October 1, all NYC cabs were required to have the new GPS and credit-card equipment installed in their cars as they came up for their annual inspections.
But the credit-card security risk may not be entirely eliminated, as even the director of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance is complaining, according to the Sun:Owners of taxi fleets that lease out vehicles to subcontracted drivers will continue to have online access to unencrypted credit card data, but individual drivers will not, Mr. Faoro said. The numbers are made available in the event that a transaction dispute must be resolved with a credit card company. Earlier: Credit cards coming to 'almost all' taxis by January
February 4, 2008 09:08 AM in Arrivology, Transportology
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