Researchers use Google Glass to boost ATM security

Researchers use Google Glass to boost ATM security

German researchers have devised a novel if convoluted way of using Google Glass to make ATM cash withdrawals more secure.

The team from Saarland University have tapped cryptographic software called Ubic for their project, installing it on Glass.

The software identifies the user to the cash machine, creating a public key that is used to encrypt a one-way PIN that is sealed with a digital signature.

What results is a QR code on the ATM screen which only the customer's Google Glass can decrypt, showing the wearer a PIN needed to complete their transaction.

Dominique Schröder, assistant professor, cryptographic algorithms, Saarland University, says: "We know that you can use it [Glass] to abuse data. But it can also be used to protect data."

Comments: (4)

A Finextra member
A Finextra member 17 March, 2014, 13:51Be the first to give this comment the thumbs up 0 likes

Just a comment on the wording here.  What does 'tapped' actually mean? I'm a native English speaker (UK) and I'm really not sure.  Tested with? Utilised? Gone into partnership with?

An odd word to use for a global audience.  And I see it in a lot of stories.

Other than that, interesting article!

Matt White
Matt White - Finextra - Toronto 17 March, 2014, 14:20Be the first to give this comment the thumbs up 0 likes

Tapped, as in tapped into, as in taken advantage of. Point taken - it is perhaps a bit colloquial, especially given our global audience. 

A Finextra member
A Finextra member 17 March, 2014, 14:25Be the first to give this comment the thumbs up 0 likes

Ah, makes sense now that I see the context Matt.  Thanks for the reply.  

Dan

Ketharaman Swaminathan
Ketharaman Swaminathan - GTM360 Marketing Solutions - Pune 18 March, 2014, 12:52Be the first to give this comment the thumbs up 0 likes

@MattW: I didn't know "tap" was colloquial! I've read and written it for a fairly long time. Just today, I saw it being used twice in a single article in India's leading business newspaper Economic Times about the use of SMAC technologies for election campaigning: Once to refer to Gen Y, as in "The idea is to tap them" and the second time to reference social media, as in "It is vital to tap this medium". 

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