🚀 go-pugleaf

In <1992Nov5.184546.5854@ulysses.att.com> tom@ulysses.att.com (Tom Smith) writes:

>On another newsgroup, there is a lot of discussion about Automatic
>Teller Machines and the Personal Identification Number (PIN) associated
>with an account/card.  There is controversy about whether or not
>an encrypted version of the PIN is encoded onto the magnetic stripe
>on the card.

Which newsgroup?  I'd like to follow that.

>Facts, anyone?

Yes, there is.  This means the ATM can match your card to the PIN
you entered at the ATM, even if the phone lines are cut.  Scary, huh?

Well, it means the ATM can match _if it has the key_.  Each
issuer has its own key.  The ATM you visit probably can match the
card PIN with the entered PIN only if the bank that runs it issued
your card.

In plainspeak, if your card works in the machine _only_ because
of Cirrus or Plus or NYCE, then the PIN authentication takes place
somewhere else.  Or not at all if the lines are down.


Carl Oppedahl AA2KW  (intellectual property lawyer)
30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY  10112-0228
voice 212-408-2578     fax 212-765-2519