PRINCETON JUNCTION, N.J. — The Smart Card Alliance here said yesterday that a recent Associated Press story and subsequent news reports inaccurately linked security questions about an RF-enabled chip used primarily in transit applications with the contactless smart card technology used in financial payment cards. The RF-enabled chip used in the transit applications, which was cited by University of Virginia research, is not the same product used in contactless credit/debit cards and electronic passports, said the Smart Card Alliance. The research, presented at a hacker’s conference in Germany, involved one dimension of security in one specific product. “The goal is to design systems so any would-be criminal breaking through one door will simply find another, bigger locked door behind it,” said Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the Smart Card Alliance, in a statement. Contactless credit cards are being accepted by such retailers as Meijer and ShopRite stores.

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