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Subway Card Hackers Can't Talk At Defcon
David Utter
Staff Writer
2008-08-11
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A trio of MIT students planned to talk about the Boston subway's inherent problems with its payment card system, but an injunction took their presentation off the Defcon slate of topics.
 | | Subway Card Hackers Can't Talk At Defcon |  |
It seems like an annual event in the world of security conferences. A high-profile enterprise catches wind of a proposed talk about vulnerabilities in their services, and they race to the courtroom to stop the presentation.
Conferences like Black Hat and Defcon virtually court that kind of response through the nature of their content and audience. The latest kerfuffle stems from Massachusetts, where a group of MIT students planned to discuss breaking the smartcard used for subway payment systems.
Boston is among several places using the particular card, and the prospect of being the topic of conversation alarmed city subway officials. The Register noted the filing of an injunction to halt the talk.
The effect of the lawsuit, which included a request to stop the speakers from suggesting the security of the payment system was insecure, essentially ensured plenty of people would learn exactly that about the CharlieCard.
As The Register noted, attorneys for the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority helpfully tacked on an overview of how the CharlieCard can be forged or cloned. The students also planned to discuss how to mitigate such problems.
MBTA's lawsuit smacks more of ego and embarrassment than of actual concern about security issues. Discussions between the students, their instructor, and the MBTA last week failed to find a compromise; all MBTA accomplished was gaining more publicity for issues that need to be fixed.
About the Author:
David Utter is a business and technology writer for SecurityProNews and WebProNews.
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