Google pulls Wallet prepaid cards
Search giant embarrassed by security hole in its NFC application, but insists it will have a fix soon
Published: 13 February, 2012
READ MORE: US | Google | Security | NFC | Android
Google was forced to disable the prepaid cards for its new Google Wallet payments system at the weekend, following discovery of a major security hole.
The search giant wants to kickstart adoption of NFC-based mobile payments by including Wallet in Android handsets in the US, and to ensure that platform vendors, rather than operators, have the upper hand in m-commerce. However, last week's intense attention to the security flaw in the software has been a setback, and Osama Bedier, VP of Google Wallet and Payments, acknowledged on a company blog that the prepaid cards were being pulled temporarily.
These cards allow users to upload money from credit cards to the virtual wallet on their phone, but Bedier said Google needed to "address an issue that could have allowed unauthorized use of an existing prepaid card balance if someone recovered a lost phone without a screen lock". He insisted the weekend's action was just "a precaution until we issue a permanent fix soon".
The hole came to light last week when the Smartphone Champ blog published a report outlining how a hacker could easily access a prepaid card, which is connected to the user's device directly rather than a Google account. Hackers, explained the blog, could steal a phone and clear the data in the Wallet app, then log back in, at which point they would be prompted to enter a new PIN and Google account password. That would give them access to the card details and cash uploaded by the original owner.
Despite this, Bedier argued that Wallet remained a safe way to purchase goods, and better than "the plastic cards and folded wallets in use today". The app currently works on the Nexus S 4G device on Sprint's network and should come to other models and networks in the near future.
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