Line-based chip card tamper detection
First Claim
1. A transaction device for exchanging information and having circuitry for detecting an attempt to tamper with a contact interface of the transaction device, comprising:
- a contact interface comprising a plurality of pins;
a processing unit coupled to the contact interface and configured to execute instructions;
a plurality of contact lines coupled between the plurality of pins of the contact interface and the processing unit;
a memory having the instructions stored thereon and coupled to provide the instructions to the processing unit, wherein the instructions cause the processing unit to;
apply a non-standard signal to one or more of the plurality of contact lines;
measure a response value for the non-standard signal; and
identify the attempt to tamper with the contact interface based on the response value.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A payment processing device can implement a monitoring system to detect for tamper attempts at a chip card interface. The monitoring system can establish a baseline when no chip card is present in the chip card interface, or in some embodiments, when it is known that an authentic chip card 14 is present in the slot 21. During subsequent evaluations of the chip card interface by the monitoring system, a response received by the monitoring system that deviates from the baseline can indicate that a tamper attempt at the chip card interface may have occurred. If a tamper attempt is determined by the monitoring system, a remedial or corrective action can be taken.
170 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A transaction device for exchanging information and having circuitry for detecting an attempt to tamper with a contact interface of the transaction device, comprising:
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a contact interface comprising a plurality of pins; a processing unit coupled to the contact interface and configured to execute instructions; a plurality of contact lines coupled between the plurality of pins of the contact interface and the processing unit; a memory having the instructions stored thereon and coupled to provide the instructions to the processing unit, wherein the instructions cause the processing unit to; apply a non-standard signal to one or more of the plurality of contact lines; measure a response value for the non-standard signal; and identify the attempt to tamper with the contact interface based on the response value. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method of detecting an attempt to tamper with a contact interface of a transaction device, the method comprising:
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providing a monitoring system coupled to a contact interface, wherein the monitoring system and the contact interface are coupled to a processing unit; sending, with the monitoring system, a non-standard signal to one or more components of the contact interface; receiving, by the monitoring system, a response from the one or more components of the contact interface based on the non-standard signal; comparing the response to a baseline associated with the one or more components of the contact interface; and detecting an attempt to tamper with the contact interface based on the response being different from the baseline. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification