You and I are not the only ones concerned about the long term effects of mobile radiation exposure, there have been several reports by very prominent people and organisations addressing this very issue:
Devra asks the same questions we are… What do we currently know? What do we need to find out? What can we do to limit exposure? She also makes a very valid point that the mobile phone standards we refer to are dated!
The standard was based on the “average mobile user” being MALE and weighing 99.7 KGs, on the phone for just 6 minutes a day (i wish i was just on the phone for 6 minutes a day).
In October 2014 the World Health Organisation started a 30 year study into the effects of mobile phone radiation on the human body, specifically looking at the link between brain cancer and long term mobile phone usage. The study has close to 300,000 participants and final recommendations will be published in 2040.
COSMOS is a world wide study that follows your health and mobile phone use long term and collects the following data:
This collected data is periodically uploads the data to Epidemiology, Imperial College.
Victoria Cleland
Bank of England’s chief cashier
A statement that particularly stuck with me was by Victoria Cleland, the chief cashier at the Bank of England who pretty much stated that she doesn’t use contact-less cards and payment methods because she doesn’t quiet trust it. That is OK Victoria, neither do we and we even have a solution to keep your cards safe.
We are all using our mobile phones more & more whether it’s ….
They’re indispensable and we’ve got to the stage where we can’t live without them. In fact, we will be using them more & more as technology develops.
When you are using your phone, do you ever feel the heat? You know it… we’ve all felt it during those long calls. That is the cell phone radiation hitting your head, which makes us ask questions regarding the possible health risks of prolonged exposure to Cell Phone radiation. Studies are still being carried out, but we think having prolonged and repeated exposure to radiation can’t be a good thing in the long term; for us, you and your family.
You can’t see it, you can’t hear it, but after a long call i would bet you that you can feel the heat on your ear / head.
Use your earphones – for the same reason as the first; keeping the phone from direct contact with your head
Try and distance the phone from the body and increase this distance if the phone signal is weak. You can even keep your phone close but not directly touching your body.
Get a Cool Case – the in-built radiation diffusion technology is specifically designed to minimise the amount of radiation contacting your body tissue by around 95+% across all frequencies and spectrum’s.
Even the big telecommunication companies are aware of the issue and have sent messages to their customers in the past regarding this very issue:
The World Health Organisation has started a long term study into the effects of mobile phone emission exposure on body tissue – you can find out more by checking out:
To give you a quick answer, it is an evolved skimming technique that uses augmented Point Of Sale machines and terminals to capture and store your credit card data, that data is then accessed remotely (normally via Bluetooth) by the skimmer and downloaded onto their device.
What makes this a threat is that even with your powerful Skim Guard technology, you still have to separate the card from the protective field in order to pay for your goods, otherwise if you didn't, your card wouldn't work, and that is where 'Shimming' is getting people.
Augmented POS terminals used for 'Shimming' make use of the POS ability to process card transactions and its power source. From the exterior they are identical to the real machines however on the inside you will find an additional circuit board with an SD card attachment for capturing data and a Bluetooth transmitter for sending that data. Now you have all the ingredients needed for skimmers to nab your cards details.
It used to be that this kind of skimming setup was risky for the skimmer since they had to return to the device to physically disassemble it to get access to the SD cards captured data - greatly increasing the risk they will get caught, increasing the risk continued tampering with the device will leave visible signs - and thus be spotted. These limitations somewhat reduced the frequency at which skimmers can acquire your details.
This all changed with Bluetooth technology getting better, with the addition of small and powerful Bluetooth transmitters into the mix, skimmers don't need to get close, let alone interface with the device in order to get access to the captured data, this can all be done at a distance via a Bluetooth compatible device, such as a smartphone.
Similar skimming setups have been found at gas stations an ATM's and there seems to be increasing reports in the news of these kind of setups being discovered. Thankfully there are apps you can get these days that detect Bluetooth skimming device signals and warm you of such possible threats.
The best defense here is vigilance. As a merchant only use the POS the bank provides, if anyone comes around claiming they have an updated POS device for your business, or need to check your machine to make sure the latest features are operational check their credentials with your bank and make sure they did actually send a representative out for the intended task. It is a safe assumption that if your bank knows nothing of the service you are likely dealing with a skimmer looking to augment your POS machine or replace it with an already augmented one.
As a customer, shop at your trusted stores, keep an eye out for any shabby looking POS machines that look like they aren't aligning quiet right and as always take care of yourself out there in the big wide world of technology.
]]>The majority of the crimes recorded were credit card fraud using skimming devices, and identity fraud. Newtown Crime Prevention Officer, Senior Constanble John Tikisci said this kind of fraud was one of the only crimes on the rise.
“People don't have to break into people’s homes or do armed robberies when they can go and steal credit cards from letterboxes.” Many of our identification cards are sent through the mail, and if a criminal targets your letterbox, they could easily accrue the required 100 points of identification necessary to steal your identity. It is not just NSW Police who are being frustrated by the exponential rise in fraud; WA and Victoria Police have lobbied to have RFID enabled credit cards banned because of the rise in fraud and identity crime in those states.
Detective Chief Inspector Matt Craft of the Fraud and Cybercrime Squad: “This isn’t a problem we can arrest our way out of. Ten to 15 years ago these criminals would have been doing break and enters but now have migrated to fraud and identity crime.”
“Essentially it is easier for them and less risky.”
Find out just how easy skimming is, and how concerned you should be about it.
The cost of fraud is shared by banks reimbursing victims, the taxpayer who must foot the bill for the surge in police investigations in fraud cases, and the community who are less safe because overstretched police have less time to stop crimes that are more dangerous like domestic violence. As is always the case, however, the victim bears the brunt of the negative impacts- not only are they out of pocket but they may be blacklisted on their credit card at no fault of their own, or even wanted for crimes committed by criminals assuming the victim’s stolen identity. Don’t let this be you! To keep your identity personal, as it should be, the Skim Guard team recommend that you take these simple measures that go a long way in keeping you secure:
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What is RFID?
RFID stands for Radio Frequency Identification and this new technology is affecting your life in a big way. These days, most bank cards are embedded with RFID technology which means they can send and receive radio waves, allowing them to communicate with point-of-sale devices like EFTPOS terminals. This is the technology behind 'PayWave' and 'PayPass.' To know if your card is embedded with RFID technology, check for a logo - on your card - resembling a cone of curves on the front.
If your bank card has this logo printed on it, it is what is known as an RFID tag- it has been fitted with a transceiver, (transmitter and receiver) an antenna and a chip. For a transmission to occur, a tag must be in the range of a ‘reader.’ RFID tags are very convenient. They save us time and hassle because any purchase under $100 can be made with a simple wave of the card on top of the EFTPOS terminal.
This is convenient for thieves too. With just a few easy-to-acquire tools, thieves can skim your bank card details and spend your money undetected. It may have happened to you already without you even knowing it. According to a 2012 survey by ING, though more of us are checking our bank balance regularly, only 4% of respondents checked their detailed bank statement when it arrived. Read More
RFID chips are not just in bank cards. They are embedded in our passports, 'tap-and-go' transport cards (like Opal, Myki, or Oyster), hotel room keys, work access passes, and other indispensable utensils of modern life. Together, they are responsible for all the information that makes up our identity: our photograph, passport number, address, medicare number, and bank card details- all the things an identity thief needs to open up a new account, set up a utility, or even get a personal loan.
The readers that you tap your card on are set on very low ranges, so you must be within a few centimetres of the device for it to be able to read your card. However, according to David Skillicorn, a professor at the school of computing at Queens University, “there is nothing inherent in the technology that says it has to be within three to four inches – if you turn the power up you can push it out to 10 or 15 feet.” Skimmers take advantage of that fact.
Skimmers scan for RFID chips using devices like point-of-sale terminals with antennas to boost their range. These are connected to a notebook computer which, once you have been skimmed, stores your private details for their use. There are also apps that make use of NFC technology in Android phones to turn the phones themselves into skimmers. In this day and age, when all it takes for an electronic pickpocket to get their hands on your personal details is to download an app, you need to start getting serious about identity protection and take your security into your own hands.
Short of wrapping all your cards and passport in several layers of tin foil, there are easier and more practical steps that you can take to protect yourself from skimming. Treat your card like cash and don't let it out of your sight. For example, do not give your card to a waiter or shop assistant and let them go in the back room with it. Instead, follow them to the point-of-sale terminal or insist that they bring it to you. Get your card back immediately after completing a purchase. Read your bank statements and check your account balance online regularly. Report any unauthorised or suspicious transactions at once, even if only very small amounts are involved. Invest in real RFID security. Security experts recommend that you store your passport in a shielding cover, and carry devices that guard your RFID chipped cards and documents from skimming. Read more about these recommended security solutions here.
Credit card skimming is a problem that is growing around the world at an alarming rate. It has become so common because it is incredibly easy to do! In the hope that this information makes you more vigilant with your security...
The convenience of RFID chip enabled items is impossible to deny. All you have to do is look back at the people waiting in the long lines at the airport while you step right through security after one scan of your 'e-passport,' to appreciate the time it saves us. Purchases are much quicker and more convenient too, requiring nothing more than a simple wave of a bank card above an RFID card reader. We have embraced these items because they save us time and effort but at what cost?
Unfortunately, RFID chips are convenient for thieves too. With just a few easy-to-acquire tools, thieves can skim your bank card details and spend your money undetected. If you do realise that it has happened, it will be when you check your bank statement at the end of the month and see a transaction at a strange retailer that you cannot recall- in other words, far too late.
When you picture a skimmer, the image of a tech genius may come to your mind. Forget that. While it was initially pioneered by 'ethical hackers' to demonstrate just how insecure RFID technology is, it was quickly picked up by criminals. The truth is anyone can be a skimmer. If you can make a purchase on eBay, and connect a few computer cables, you can indiscriminately steal a stranger's credit card details.
An RFID reader, a mag stripe reader and a laptop is all that’s required - as far as hardware is concerned. The RFID and mag stripe readers can be purchased online. The skimming software is installed on the laptop. That takes cares of step 1: not that difficult.
Criminals conceal their laptop in a briefcase, or backpack, enter a crowded area, stand close to an unsuspecting victim, and the software installed on the laptop skims (steals) the victim’s credit card details.
The victim’s stolen data will display on the laptop.
The criminal then connects the mag stripe reader to the laptop, runs a blank card through the mag stripe reader, and embeds the victims card details on the blank card.
Then the criminal uses the counterfeited 'blank' to make unsolicited purchases. It’s that easy.
Easier still, if you are capable of downloading an android app (more info), you are capable of being a skimmer. Skimmers can now download an app called NFC Proxy that uses the inbuilt NFC capabilities of their mobile phone to read the RFID chips of unsuspecting victims and then use that information to pay for purchases with the same phone.
RFID technology requires one reader and one tag for a transmission of information to occur. These items are distinct. Your bank card is embedded with a RFID tag which communicates with the reader inside a point-of-sale terminal when in range. NFC (near field communication) works the same way, however, the NFC chip in your phone can act as both a reader or a tag depending on what the software tells it to do.
]]>The number of our children using mobile phones is growing at an astonishing rate. In June 2011, less than a quarter of our teens used a smartphone. Four years later that number jumped to over 80%. These days it is not uncommon to see children as young as two years old using smartphones and tablets. Unfortunately, this could be putting our kids at serious risk.
Radiation in the brain can have devastating results. Each year, the equivalent of a classroom of children lose their lives to brain cancer, with about 30 children dying per year on average. Percentage growth in mobile phone usage among teenager.
There is a growing body of evidence suggesting that the radiation emitted by mobile phones is harmful to our health. In a 2011 report, the World Health Organization (WHO) classified the radiation emitted by mobile phones as ‘possibly carcinogenic to humans,’ based on an increased risk of malignant brain tumours.
The amount of radiation that mobile phones are allowed to emit is regulated, but it is done so in a flawed way which puts us all- children especially- at tremendous risk, because the testing takes no account of the differences (size being just one) between adult and children's heads. The amount of radio frequency radiation that any biological tissue can take in depends on a number of factors, one being the amount of fluid or fat that makes up the specific tissue.
Children are at higher risk than adults because:
Young skulls are thinner and smaller than those of adults, allowing higher radiation penetration.
All these factors make children much more vulnerable to mobile phone radiation. The same 2011 report by the World Health Organisation states "When used by children, the average RF Energy deposition is two times higher in the brain and up to ten times higher in the bone marrow of the skull, compared with mobile phone use by adults."
Brain cancer kills more children than any other disease, Yet only 1 in 10 cases of cancer in children is inherited, or caused by a defect in their genes. The majority of health problems are not inherited; they are environmental. The silver lining in this tragic statistic is that we can take measures to try and make our kids safer: be that by feeding them a cleaner, more nutritional diet, encouraging them to exercise, or yes, educating them on how to most safely use the two way microwaves they are glued to for hours each day.
The Federal Government's Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) has made some small recommendations regarding mobile phone safety, including releasing a fact sheet stating "Due to the lack of scientific evidence on mobile and cordless phone use by children, ARPANSA recommends that parents encourage their children to limit their exposure.’' The agency also advocates that schools "give some priority to locating Wi-Fi access points so they are not unnecessarily close to some children'' - although it did not specify a distance.
While commendable, Australia’s response pales in comparison to other world beating nations who have treated the risk to children’s health more seriously. Just like cigarettes, advertising of devices that emit 'possibly carcinogenic’ radio-frequency radiation to children under 12 is banned in France, where it is also compulsory to sell handsets with earphones. Elsewhere,Toronto's Department of Public Health has advised that children under eight should only use mobiles in emergencies and teens should keep calls under 10 minutes, the Russian National Committee on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection has stated publicly that children’s health is at risk because of their use of mobile phones and the Russian Ministry of Health states that young people under 18 should not use mobile phones. Israel's Health Ministry has also advised caution and it is now illegal for mobile phone advertising with children in that country. Israel also has a government website devoted to providing information about non-ionising radiation from mobile phones and other devices.
Without a concerted national effort to protect the children of Australia, parents must take responsibility for their children’s safety. Here is Skim Guard’s list of measures that you can take today to make your children less vulnerable to mobile phone radiation:
The majority of passports are biometric passports. Biometric passports (or e-passports) are passport books embedded with RFID chips that store information about your identity.
]]>If you have you renewed your passport in the last ten years and are reading this in your mother tongue, you almost certainly (but to be sure, keep reading) have two things:
1. a biometric passportIn this article, the Skim Guard team exposes the truth about the chip embedded in your passport and the private information stored on it that crooks want to steal.
The majority of passports are biometric passports. Biometric passports (or e-passports) are passport books embedded with RFID chips that store information about your identity. If you are a passport holder from one of the countries coloured green on the following map, your passport probably is biometric. All new passports from countries coloured in green on the map below have RFID chips embedded inside them. (Map source: www.secureidnews.com)
To make sure, you can check the front cover of your passport for the e-passport logo. All biometric passports have a logo consisting of two horizontal stripes and a centred circle. Show this logo to a skimmer and they see a target.
Biometric passports contain an antenna and a Radio Frequency Identification chip which shares information wirelessly by sending signals that can be read at short distance by electronic readers. The information stored on the chip is used for verification at an 'e-gate' in the customs hall at the airport, where the passport is scanned and facial recognition technology compares the passport photo with a photo taken on the spot. The technology was created as another security measure against fake passports. Ironically, it actually makes passports less secure as ePassports can be easily skimmed.
The RFID chips inside can be read and tracked without the passport holder even knowing it. Governments will say that ePassports are protected by security measures but absurdly, the key to unlocking the passport's chip is the details actually printed on the passport itself. It is almost like writing your pin number on the back of your bank card: sheer lunacy!
Once a skimmer scans your passport, all the private information printed inside, the passport photo and more are at their disposal. The stolen information can then be used to fill in application forms, or even written onto a blank chip to create a cloned passport in five minutes. Becoming a victim of identity theft is the last thing you need when overseas. We have all heard the horror stories- identity theft has the ability to turn the trip of a lifetime into a nightmare.
FIDIS is an EU funded research group of IT security experts that focuses on identity and privacy in the European Union. Researchers working in FIDIS say governments have forced something on their citizens that dramatically decreases security and increases the risk of identity theft. In a research paper describing security features of electronic passports and evaluating their efficiency, the experts conclude.
“If you are worried that an attacker could communicate with your passport without your knowledge and either try to break the BAC or at least guess some information about the chip, just store your passport in a shielding cover which is widely available.”
Travel insurance won’t protect you from identity theft overseas. According to the experts, only Passport Wallet by Skim Guard will. Get it before you leave so you don't leave your identity behind at the departure gate.
1. Říha Z. (2009) An Overview of Electronic Passport Security Features. In: Matyáš V., Fischer-Hübner S., Cvrček D., Švenda P. (eds) The Future of Identity in the Information Society. Privacy and Identity 2008.
]]>Like the pickpockets of old, the new, electronic pickpocket- the skimmer- chooses his or her haunt carefully. The best place to work is anywhere where there are crowds of distracted people who will likely be carrying RFID chipped cards or documents . Why?
a) They are great places to go unnoticedFor these reasons, the places where you are most likely to be skimmed are:
Skimmers like to fade into the crowd. Where better to do this than in a place teeming with people who are there because they have money to spend. More people are choosing to pay for their shopping by card rather than cash. This makes the number of potential victims seemingly limitless for a skimmer in a shopping centre.
Shopping centres can be chaotic. People rush to and fro, sidestepping the dawdlers and window-shoppers who are too preoccupied with sales to even notice. What no-one is paying attention to is the shopper with a laptop in her handbag who just casually brushed past them. She now has their credit card details. If the victims ever do check their bank statement at the end of the month and notice a strange transaction, they will try hard to recall where they were and what they were doing on that date. All they will remember is that they were shopping
There are people everywhere; every one of them in a rush; every one of them with a credit card and passport handy, so that they can be scanned by customs officials and clerks. They are being scrutinised by another person too. A businessman walks briskly by clutching his briefcase or laptop bag. Business is good here if you are in the identity theft game. Now that almost everyone has biometric passports powered by RFID chips, skimmers are free to help themselves to personal identification with alarming ease
Public transport stations and vehicles are teeming with people who are often too busy rushing to make their connection to notice the people around them. This makes such places hot spots for skimming.
Mark Rasch, the director of cybersecurity and privacy consulting at business technology firm CSC, described the magnitude of the potential loot that skimmers can get away with at spots like these: “If I put a reader next to a turnstile at Grand Central Terminal at rush hour, I could probably capture data from 5,000 cards in an evening, and what you’re getting from each one is enough to initiate a transaction.”
Bank cards are not the only cards carried on public transport. In most large cities in Australia and the world, commuters can get around using ‘tap-on, tap-off’ contactless payment cards with like Octopus in Hong Kong, Oyster in London, Myki in Melbourne, or Opal in Sydney.
The RFID chip inside these cards allows them to communicate with readers on turnstiles, top-up machines, and even point-of-sale terminals in some countries where they can be used for purchases like bank cards. Our transport cards contain private information about our identity and travel patterns on them as well as our money, and thus need to be secured.
The frightening thing about these high-risk places is that they are unavoidable. Though some of us may cross paths with skimmers more frequently, everyone is on their radar. Fortunately there is one thing we can do to avoid being targeted. That is to guard ourselves with Skim Guard Active products.
]]>Contactless fraud, or skimming, is a global phenomenon that affects everyone. The scariest thing about it is how easy it is to fall victim. The reason for this? A combination of two things:
1) the genuine ease of the crime itself, which makes it popular.
2) the enormous numbers of potential victims to choose from, allowing criminals to cast a wide net.
Reserve Bank figures show cash usage and ATM transactions are declining. Instead, more and more Australians are taking advantage of the convenience of ‘tap and go’ payment systems, that use RFID technology, like MasterCard’s Pay Pass or Visa’s payWave- in fact, over 75% of all face-to-face Visa transactions are now payWave.
Australians are the biggest users of tap and go payments in the world, all adding up to over $2 billion per week spent contactlessly. Read More
The monumental uptake of ‘tap and go’ technology and the unfounded trust that consumers place in its security has not been lost on crooks who have been busy staking out the most lucrative places to lurk in order to best take advantage of the expanding market of insecure credit card details. The numbers speak for themselves:
According to the Australian Payments Clearing Association, Australians lost $521 million to card fraud in the 2016 financial year! The rate of card fraud increased to 74.2 cents per $1,000 in 2016, and the rate of traditional ATM skimming (in which false readers are attached to ATMs, skimming victims who swipe their cards and enter their PIN) is falling, while modern contactless skimming and online fraud are growing at exponential rates.
In 2015, Western Australia’s Police Commissioner stated that he wanted RFID embedded credit cards banned, (view article) claiming the lack of security around the technology was helping fuel the State’s rising crime problems. He noted the undeniable link between ‘tap and go’ credit cards and a rise in theft. The Police Commissioner is not alone in wanting the technology banned. Victoria Police have made similar statements, blaming ‘tap and go’ technology for an extra 5000 offenses in 2014.
Although they are the most publicised cases, skimming is a threat to more than just your credit card. Skimmers can steal information from many other items that we use on a daily basis because many of the items that we depend on most are embedded with RFID technology. Our passports, identity cards, transport cards, and workplace access tags along with all the personal information that they hold are all at risk, and while you can easily change your bank card PIN, you can not do the same for your date of birth, iris or fingerprints.
If a criminal skims the information on your RFID access tag, (your workplace access pass for instance), they can transition from being just an electronic thief to a burglar able to access and steal tangible things, all the while leaving your electronic fingerprints at the crime scene.
With such a diverse range of items that are as ubiquitous as they are important to our everyday lives compromised, truly everyone is at risk from skimming, yourself included. So what are you going to do about it?
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