Research – Beware of Pickpockets: A Practical Attack Against Blocking Cards
Evaluation of blocking card effectiveness for contactless smart cards, highlighting potential vulnerabilities and practical attacks.
Contactless smart cards are widely used today for critical operations such as payments and building access.
Attacks against these cards can lead to financial losses or the leakage of sensitive information.
Although smart card security has improved over the years, many systems with weak security properties are still in use.
Blocking cards are affordable devices designed to protect smart cards by generating a jamming signal or shielding them.
While vendors claim their reliability, no prior study has systematically evaluated their effectiveness.
This research investigates the practical security of blocking cards and demonstrates potential vulnerabilities.
For more information, read the full research paper.
