New passwords set to be placed onto credit cards

May 8, 2007

The company VeriSign wants to see temporary passwords placed onto credit cards when we purchase an item. The passwords will replace current security key fobs and they will contain a password for online banking for example.

The way in which it would work would be if you were buying something online, you would need to type in your username and password as well as a certain code which is shown on your cards display window. Your code will change all of the time which means that you would need to have the card there with you to access your account at that time. This also ensures that nobody guesses your code and it is definitely a lot safer than shopping online usually is.

The fact that you have two passwords is added protection because even if somebody manages to get your original password, they will not be able to guess your code and so they would fail in trying to hack into your account anyway. Also that works the other way around too if you lose your card which has the code on. The person would still have to know your original username and password to get into your account.

However some experts claim that these new cards will not always help and they are not necessarily better than the chip and pin systems. If anything they say that the VeriSign scheme is not as secure as the chip and pin system because anybody could be using the card and nobody would know.

So overall whether or not the scheme will go ahead is debateable. However, VeriSign are trying to sign a deal with ‘Innovative Card Technologies’ and that will help them to put their scheme into practice. It does seem a little far fetched but only time will tell if the scheme will prove to be successful.