Mythbusters Banned From Hacking RFID Chips

[Nathan]

Wonder why this is?

 

 

The Mythbusters love getting to the bottom of a myth, but sometimes the protectors of the myth hold the bigger stick.

 

The crew was all set to air a show about how hackable and trackable RFID chips that are found in many credit cards are, when some big name advertisers stepped in to shut it down.

 

In an undated YouTube video, which , Adam Savage of Mythbusters talks about how the MB's crew sat down for a conference call with Texas Instruments to discuss the tech behind the chips, and were surprised to find also on the line were chief legal reps from Visa, Discover, and American Express. The Discovery Channel was told if the show about RFID chips aired, the major credit card companies would pull all advertising from the cable network.

 

Guess who won that battle? Suffice to say, there was no Mythbusters episode about RFID chips.

 

Source

 

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[JimBobIV]

Well, it's hardly news that RFID isn't the most secure system out there. Honestly it'd probably be better in the long run if it was made very public knowledge now rather than when some sort of scandal hits later, but I suppose the corporations want to clutch their cash as long as they can. A hell of a dick move, anyways.

[redinit]

This is another example of security through obfuscation, which doesn't work. Rather than let a legit organization hack it, they'd rather let an anonymous group crack it, in hopes they hide it from the masses.

[deyvion]

It is sad to see how money rules the truth. Like JimBobIV said, it would be better to get the truth out now before innocent people are affected later - but the truth stays hidden under a large stack of cash. I hope someday those men's creditcards get hacked.

[Jaymun]

Well, it's hardly news that RFID isn't the most secure system out there. Honestly it'd probably be better in the long run if it was made very public knowledge now rather than when some sort of scandal hits later, but I suppose the corporations want to clutch their cash as long as they can. A hell of a dick move, anyways.

 

Absolutely agree. It's way safer to have the public know it so they can protect themselves than to have people only find out AFTER something goes wrong