A while back a reader asked about the security of e-payment systems and how it will affect the cash market. There are a number of these systems available around the world and like most things if they aren't here in Thailand now they will be in the future.
My first concern is security. Most new technologies are based on a "tap and go" or near field process where your smart card, be it an ATM card, credit card or smartphone, is tapped or brought close enough to the reader to authorise the transaction. For an amount under the limit set by the technology, e.g. say 2,000 baht, £100 or whatever, the process is automatically authorised, i.e. you don't have to enter a pin number or press any buttons.
So a person with the right technology can walk close to you, and your wallet or purse, and process one or more transactions under that amount and walk away without you knowing until the bill arrives or you find your bank balance is less than it should be. I solve this issue by having a wallet made from stainless steel thread, which blocks signals. I also bought some sleeves that do the same thing for my parent's ATM cards. The latter are inexpensive and work quite well. A friend of mine demoed an Android phone app that will grab card details by getting close enough to the cards or wallet. This also was blocked by both approaches mentioned.
So essentially the new technology can act like cash where no other action is required and saves time making change. It also acts just like your credit card but with a few less steps. The biggest difference seems to be in overall transaction speed. It can be as easy as a tap. If someone steals your cash however, then they are limited to that amount. With the right card and new technology, users are limited to multiple transactions up to the limit of the card. This is similar to what happens when someone steals your credit card as they get the CCV on the back and can rack up the charges quickly and anonymously.
Even with the convenience of the new technologies, I think that cash is around for quite a while as I don't see the local noodle seller getting a reader any time soon. ATMs are also around for a long time yet as many stores will require a cash transaction after banking hours. It does speed up things a little at supermarkets and stores but your volume would need to be quite high for any benefits to become apparent. That said it does place the transaction in the hands of the customer as they are the ones now swiping or tapping rather than the store's staff. Like many technologies it improves convenience in some situations, it is new and so trendy for a while. Cashless society? Not for a while yet.
According to a Chinese hacker, the White Hat kind, 4G LTE networks are very insecure. Wanqiao Zhang of Chinese security house Qihoo 360 demonstrated at Ruxcon in Melbourne, Australia, how easy it was to break into a call then make your own and send text messages. As of this writing, the vulnerabilities are still live and exploitable. The attacks work for all LTE network types and can even be used to force a phone offline.
Want to buy an iPhone 7 Plus? Get in line because Apple didn't make enough and waiting times vary from two weeks and up. This will give LG a nice entry into the market with their V20 smartphone that is priced well under the iPhone 7 Plus. It probably won't help that one of the Apple units caught fire recently. In other Apple news, if you want better communications then make sure you get the iPhone with the Qualcomm modem as this will work better out in the country at the edge of the range. Qualcomm modem supports a wider set of protocols and in testing against the Intel chip Cellular Insights found Qualcomm performed 30% better. You want models A1660 or A1661.
If you received an Adobe Flash update note in the past week or so, update now because malware is currently exploiting a newly discovered hole in the internet's screen door to hijack Windows PCs. Just do it.
Finally for this week, physicists have produced "near-perfect" clones of quantum information that can be used to send and retrieve information securely over long distances through quantum cryptography. It involved the cloning of photons and the current success rate is 5% and photons can be cloned up to five times so don't get too excited. Fully secure communication is the holy grail for governments, major companies and criminal organisations but the whole field of quantum technologies is still in its infancy.
James Hein is an IT professional of over 30 years' standing. You can contact him at jclhein@gmail.com.
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