Hacked Oyster Card System Crashes Again 95
Barence sends along PcPro coverage of the second crash of London's Oyster card billing system in two weeks. Transport for London was forced to open the gates and allow free travel for all. "There is currently a technical problem with Oyster readers at London Underground stations which is affecting Oyster pay as you go cards only," explains the TfL website. This follows the first crash two weeks ago, which left 65,000 Oyster cards permanently corrupted. Speculation is increasing that the crashes may be related to the hacking of the Oyster card system by Dutch researchers from Radboud University, though TfL denies any link. Plans to publish details of the hack were briefly halted when the makers of the chip used in the system sued the group, although a judge ruled earlier this week that the researchers could go ahead. During the court action, details briefly leaked on website Wikileaks.
Re:It's not been hacked (Score:4, Insightful)
I did read the headline. Just because someone is capable of exploiting the system doesn't mean thats what happened.
Somehow I trust The Guardian slightly more then "Barence".
Re:Free Commute (Score:4, Insightful)
Sadly I'm on a travelcard, so I still got to pay for the privilege, but at least I didn't have to queue up behind any tourists trying to work out how to get their suitcase through the barriers for once.
Re:It's not been hacked (Score:4, Insightful)
Probably something to try and get around this hack thats appeared for MiFARE.
Do I believe all this happening now with Oyster is just a co-incidence given part of the hack was made public recently? Err , no, I bloody don't.
Bit of an understatement ... (Score:4, Insightful)
Details don't just "briefly leak" on the Internet.