Hackers exploit NFC phone payment technology

As with most tech reporting this one raises more questions than it answers.

The most basic one is "what does it do?" and the best they can say is that it allows access to the phone's "innards." What a wonderfully technical term.

Do we have any reporting on this event written by someone who actually understands it?

EDIT: This is better
http://www.securityweek.com/mobile-pwn2own-2014-iphone-5s-galaxy-s5-nexus-5-fire-phone-hacked

...and it actually makes the BBC article look even worse than I had first thought. The iPhone's web browser was compromised but the BBC article makes it sound like its NFC was compromised. That's some sloppy reporting.

 

Since when does the iPhone 5S have NFC??

 

Shhhhh....logic isn't welcome here.
Seriously, the 5s was probably one of the web browser compromised devices.

 

Here's the arstechnica article: http://arstechnica.com/security/201...and-fire-phone-fall-like-dominoes-at-pwn2own/

Two phones were hacked via NFC: LG Nexus 5 and Samsung S5 (which suffered two different NFC hacks!)
The iPhone 5S hack was a Safari browser escape.

Clearly this is another case of never letting the truth get in the way of a good headline.

 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasb...nexus-5-samsung-s5-vulnerable-mobile-pwn2own/

Nice try.

Also Forbes, it's 5S, not S5.

 

So in reality, this had no effect on mobile payments via NFC, which still remain secure.

 

Ssssh! The BBC is trying to generate clicks.

 

They must be getting jealous of The Guardian...

 

Same as always

 

On the positive side, the security researcher's purchase of the Fire phone probably doubled its previous sales figures...

This is also a validation of Apple's decision to initially limit access to NFC by other parts of the phone. It's a new attack vector that should only be opened for other use in a manner that doesn't permit unauthorized access. Like TouchID, I expect that permitted use will expand over time.

 

How's this possible if the iPhone 5s doesn't have NFC?

Edit: Nevermind. I just noticed a post above that said it was via Safari, not NFC.

Pretty pathetic reporting.

 

This thread needs to be titled "hackers exploit nfc". No where does it say that the phone payment technology was hacked.

 

Hey OP, perhaps you could edit the thread title to correct the misperception it gives?