Dutch oysters are apparently wide open

THE Dutch version of the Oyster card is about as secure as a UK Government database, the Dutch interior affairs minister has warned.

Guusje ter Horst had been chatting to the boffins at the Radboud University in Nijmegen. They told her that the "Mifare" chip technology which is used in public transport systems such as such as the "Oyster" card, and corporations and governments in "swipe" access cards are a doddle to hack.

The boffins had spend their lunch hour developing a method of cracking a large large number of chip-cards. They probably did this to get on the trains for nothing.

Ter Horst has written to Parliament saying she was preparing supplemental security measures for some government buildings as a result.

NXP, which makes the chip, said it was "taking these claims very seriously" and was investigating.

Radboud University said researchers would make their findings public later Wednesday. She said they would not comment further about the nature of the vulnerability until then. µ

L'Inq
AP