TfL reponds to Oyster crack claims

Transport for London has been quick to hit back at claims, made by Dutch security researchers, that the Oyster card is crackable and clonable. Not only did the researchers apparently get a free ride on the underground, but they also seem to have perpetrated a DDOS attack on a Tube gate.

While we work on a complete story on this series of events, here's TfL's statement on the matter:

"Londoners can have total confidence in the security of their Oyster cards. We run daily tests for cloned or fraudulent cards and any found would be stopped within 24 hours of being discovered. Therefore the most anyone could gain from a rogue card is one day's travel. Security is the key aspect of the Oyster system and Londoners can have confidence in the security of their Oyster cards. Using a fraudulent card for free travel is subject to prosecution."

And here's a statement from TranSys - the consortium responsible for delivering Oyster on behalf of TfL:

"Oyster has been designed with security at the forefront of its functionality. It has robust security, which operates at different points within the system. This ensures that should one security measure be breached, another will protect Oyster cards and the system as a whole. No personal information is stored on an Oyster card and specific information relating to the individual card holder (name, address, telephone etc) is stored on a central database and kept separate from journey data."

More soon!