Speedpass
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Speedpass is a keychain RFID device introduced by ExxonMobil for electronic payment. As of 2004, more than seven million individuals possess Speedpass tags, which can be used at approximately 10,000 Exxon and Mobil gas stations worldwide. At one point, Speedpass was deployed experimentally in fast-food restaurants and supermarkets in select markets. McDonald's alone deployed Speedpass in over 400 Chicagoland restaurants. Additionally, Stop & Shop grocery chain tested Speedpass at their Boston area stores and removed the units in early 2005. The test was deemed a failure and McDonald's removed the scanners from all their restaurants in mid 2004. Speedpass has also been previously available through a Speedpass Car Tag and Speedpass-enabled Timex watch.
Speedpass was one of the first widely deployed consumer RFID payment systems of its kind, debuting nationwide in 1997 far ahead of today's VISA and MasterCard RFID trials, and the RFID/EPC (Electronic Product Code) privacy controversy.
[edit] Security of the Mobil Speedpass
The Exxon-Mobil Speedpass uses a cryptographically-enabled tag manufactured by Texas Instruments, called the Digital Signature Transponder (DST), which incorporates a weak, proprietary encryption scheme to perform a challenge-response protocol. On Jan 29th 2005, RSA Security and a group of students from Johns Hopkins University broke the proprietary encryption algorithm used by the Mobile Speedpass.[1] They were able to successfully copy a Speedpass and use the copied RFID tag to purchase gas.
In an attempt to prevent fraud, Speedpass users are now required to enter their zip code into scanners at some gas stations. [2]
