Credit Cards & Payment Methods

Overview

Payment methods are increasingly digital and the security of the transaction varies depending on the card type and the merchant’s ability to secure their data. In this lesson we will look at the security of different payment methods, how credit card data is stolen, and methods being used to increase security.

Purpose

Look at the ways electronic payment and credit cards are used and the security risks. Determine how credit information is encoded and how it is stolen and used by others.

Objectives

Students will be able to:

• Identify weaknesses in credit card payments
• Explain how data is leaked or stolen

Preparation

Links

• For the Teacher
  • Iron Oxide Powder (optional)
    • https://www.amazon.com/Black-Iron-Oxide-Natural-Pounds/dp/B004KICAVU
• For the Students

Vocabulary

Teaching Guide

Getting Started

• Samy Kamkar - Magstripe
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHSFf0Lz1qc

Activity:

• Research how Chip & Pin systems work
  • How do they increase security over only mag stripe?

Activity:

• Research how Apple & Android payment systems work.
  • What is their security advantage over a physical card?
  • Are there any potential downsides?

Activity:

• Look at the data breaches of customer credit data from Target and Home Depot
  • How were the systems attacked?
  • How many people were affected?

Activity:

• Research credit card skimmers
  • Where are these found?
  • What are security methods to thwart skimmers?

Video:

• The Future of Money
  • https://www.ted.com/talks/neha_narula_the_future_of_money

Activity:

• Research and download a bitcoin wallet
  • https://bitcoin.org/en/
• Find local businesses that accept Bitcoin

Video:

• Explanation of Bitcoin
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kubGCSj5y3k

Wrap-up

Discussion:

• What form of payment is most secure?
• Is there a way to make all payments secure?
• How might credit cards and companies work to thwart hackers going forward?

Assessment Questions

Extended Learning

Raspberry Pi:

• Build a Bitcoin Mining machine
• Research the project, select parts and setup

Standards Alignment

License

Cyber Security Curriculum is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.