A computer hack that makes it possible to defraud London鈥檚 transport payment system can be made public, according to a court ruling in the Netherlands.
Researchers at the in Nijmegen planned to publish details in October on how to hack a chip used in millions of electronic passes for entering buildings and public transport systems, including London鈥檚.
The chip is used in the city鈥檚 Oyster cards that are used to pay for journeys by pressing them against a card reader at the beginning and, sometimes the end of journeys.
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But the chip鈥檚 manufacturer, NXP based in the Netherlands, argued that it would make it easy for criminals to break into security systems and commit fraud on public transport systems.
Prior warning
NXP, founded by electronics company Philips, fears substantial damage and security risks for its clients worldwide, the court in Arnhem in the east of the Netherlands said.
But the court ruled that the university鈥檚 right to publish was part of the freedom of speech and that the publication of scientific research on the chip鈥檚 faults could help to take appropriate countermeasures.
鈥淒amage to NXP is not the result of the publication of the article, but of the production and sale of a chip that appears to have shortcomings,鈥� the court said.
The university had first informed the Dutch government and NXP in March that it had developed a method to crack NXP鈥檚 Mifare Classic chip with widely available commercial components and at low cost, but delayed publication of details.
鈥楧amage to customers鈥�
Christophe Duverne, a senior vice president at NXP, said it would take months or even years for some users of the chip to adapt their systems, and that the publication was therefore different from software hacks for which manufacturers can issue a patch much more quickly.
鈥淲hat we are doing is defending our customers,鈥� Duverne said.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 mind them publishing the effects of what they have discovered to inform society, I think this is absolutely fine, but disclosing things in detail including the algorithm 鈥� is not going to benefit society, it will create damage to society.鈥�
A spokesman for the university did not want to discuss consequences for the chip鈥檚 users.
, which runs London鈥檚 public transport system, had no immediate comment.
