Without a Traceroute

Well, sometimes, they are really 1337 elitist Cambridge hackers who figure out how it’s possible to steal your credit card number when you use it at the cash register.

Then, occasionally, they go to German hacker conferences and explain how to do it. Hint for those of you playing along at home: it involves power drills, acid, and paperclips. Sometimes, they show off their method on a special BBC news report and leave a representative from the banking industry spluttering and making excuses.

Money quotes:
@15:15:
“I think the important thing to remember from this piece is that we’re not talking about a break of the chip & PIN security overall.”
“Well I think, according to that, we certainly are.”
@17:10:
“Let’s clarify, the system is not vulnerable. Chip & PIN is very secure. It’s not 100% guaranteed against fraud—”
“So it is vulnerable.”
“No, there’s no guarantee, 100% against fraud.”
“So it’s vulnerable! By definition. If it’s not 100% guaranteed, it’s vulnerable.”
@19:19:
“So despite the fact that new cards have enhanced security, the old cards don’t lack anything by not having it? Are you seriously saying that?”

Note to American newspeople: This is called a real interview. I realize it may look strange and unfamiliar to you. The person on the right is called a journalist, his job is to ask hard questions to his interview subject, and not let her get away with answers that are blatantly absurd or self-contradictory on their face.