Hmm, but cloning a passport isn't like cloning a magstripe, or are you saying it is?
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Replying to @taviso @thedarktangent
It's exactly like cloning a magstripe, depending on the security built into the passport
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Exactly? Doesn't the passport have a smart chip built in? I believe it does, and in which case it would not be exactly like cloning a magstripe.
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In the US, but not everywhere
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Replying to @KimZetter @briankrebs and
Most passports have a RFID chip as well as an optical band, no magstripes. But it’s the physical features of a passport that are difficult to clone. If you have a blank passport and the correct printing machines you can forge one. I don’t see why you would be cloning one.
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Replying to @raistolo @KimZetter and
Right, that's my thought as well. I'm confused why someone would pay for valid passport dumps if nobody can verify them anyway? Maybe there is some way to verify them I'm not aware of?
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They can be verified if they have a signed chip - but the only place they actually ever get verified is at certain gov border crossings. Every other use of the passports does not involve verification - just visible inspection of photo/name
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Replying to @KimZetter @raistolo and
That makes sense - but the chip cannot be cloned either, so doesn't that mean that the numbers are not that useful, because you can just forge any name/number combination?
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Replying to @taviso @KimZetter and
As far as I can tell there's no way for a relying party to validate an identity/passport number pair, so the number is not an authenticator for the identity and thus there's not a material risk if the number is divulged. I don't see a material risk here.
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But they validate at border crossings based on previous entries. So if I enter a country, they scan the passport and database pops up showing previous activity with that passport. If the same number pops up but has different name, that would flag it.
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The attack you're thinking of is you *want* to convince customs that you're someone else with a valid travel history, so you can't just make up a new name and number? Hmm, that sounds valid, but have you got an example why I wouldn't just be a first-time crosser?
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That's always a possibility. The bottom line is I don't really know all the ways this info could be useful, but the thieves are expert at coming up with uses for the data they steal. Marriott could have made it harder for them to devise uses, if it had encrypted the data.
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Replying to @KimZetter @tdierks and
Not clear to me why they store it at all! Just trying to understand risk, I think it's low. Thieves need to have equipment to physically forge passport and want to cross border where they don't verify passport data, and want customs to think theyve crossed before for some reason.
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