Financial data under the shelter of intelligent technologies

[img_assist|nid=7951|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=100|height=78]The traditional swiping of a credit or debit card and signing a credit card slip will no longer be necessary in Canada in the nearest future. At present time a microchip which performs the functions of a tiny computer is being integrated into credit cards.
Card technologies which are currently used in many European, Asian and Latin countries will be eventually implemented in Canada. Now this project is being put into practice by Visa Canada, MasterCard Canada Inc. and Interac Association.
"The key driver for this is really on the security side," said Michael Stephenson, Visa's senior business manager of the chip initiative.
Chip technology is to be adapted in Canada over the next three years. As for the magnetic stripe it is expected to remain on some cards to allow them to work in jurisdictions where chip technology isn't available.
Card users insert their cards into a small chip-reading terminal and type in a PIN number when making a purchase instead of signing their names. Thus in case a card is lost or stolen, a thief shouldn't know an individual's PIN number.
Copying a chip card is far more difficult than a magnetic stripe card as the data and the transaction are encrypted.
This brings a higher level of security to a transaction, said Jack Jania, vice-president and general manager, secure transactions, for Gemalto in North America.
"There's a secret key inside the computer chip that makes that card unique," says Jania.
He notes: "If you try to pry open the card and take it apart, you expose the device to light and it automatically dumps its memory."
"It's designed to be extremely tamper-resistant to make sure the inherent data that's in that little computer is secure."
France was the first country to implement the technology 18 years ago which lead to a substantial fraud decrease, moreover the cases of frauds were reduced almost to 0.