The tiny chip that powers Montreal subway tickets (righto.com)

Article summary

The article explores the inner workings of the tiny chip used in Montreal subway tickets, which utilizes NFC technology to communicate with the turnstile. The chip, a MIFARE Ultralight EV1, is a low-cost, disposable chip designed for one-time ticketing applications. It has a unique 7-byte identification code and supports password-protected memory access, but lacks cryptography support. The chip's small size and low cost make it suitable for disposable tickets.

Main themes

• NFC technology
• Subway ticketing systems
• Chip manufacturing
• Security features
• Disposable tickets
• Public transportation

What commenters say

• The security of the MIFARE Ultralight chip is weak and can be cloned, but the security is in the backend, making cloning useless.
• The use of password authentication in the Ultralight chip provides some protection against cloning, but it can still be compromised.
• The NFC ecosystem is a mess of competing, incompatible protocols from different companies, making it difficult to implement a universal system.
• The use of disposable tickets with NFC technology is more convenient and efficient than traditional magnetic stripe tickets or optical scanning.
• The security of the chip is not a major concern for single-use tickets, as the ticket is only valid for one use and can be easily invalidated.
• The manufacturing process of the chip is outdated, using a 180 nm process, but this is due to the low-cost requirements of the disposable ticket market.
• The NFC protocol used in credit cards is related to the one used in subway tickets, but they have different application layers and security features.
• The use of a secure element in devices, such as Apple's secure enclave, provides an additional layer of security for NFC transactions.