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From: eugene@pioneer.UUCP
Newsgroups: sci.crypt
Subject: Re: bank card
Message-ID: <1588@ames.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 19-May-87 22:40:48 EDT
Article-I.D.: ames.1588
Posted: Tue May 19 22:40:48 1987
Date-Received: Thu, 21-May-87 01:17:39 EDT
References: <599@umnd-cs.D.UMN.EDU> <5747@eddie.MIT.EDU> <27595@rochester.ARPA> <3422@sunybcs.UUCP>
Sender: usenet@ames.UUCP
Reply-To: eugene@pioneer.UUCP (Eugene Miya N.)
Organization: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
Lines: 20

During the mid-1970s, I had a job designing thin film circuitry for
Information Magnetics in Goleta (Santa Barbara).  About this time I
picked up my student VISA card.  We were designed two development
systems: a 50,000 BPI tape drive and the first mag stripe readers.

We were given fake bank cards to run thru the readers (210 BPI), but
one day I was sitting there, and I had this card of mine, and I ran it
thru, I could read it.  No the PIN is not kept on the card (obvious
security problems).  At the time
only the account numbers were placed on cards.  The PIN is determined by
the account numbers (or some other algorithm the manufacturer decides).

From the Rock of Ages Home for Retired Hackers:

--eugene miya
  NASA Ames Research Center
  eugene@ames-aurora.ARPA
  "You trust the `reply' command with all those different mailers out there?"
  "Send mail, avoid follow-ups.  If enough, I'll summarize."
  {hplabs,hao,ihnp4,decwrl,allegra,tektronix,menlo70}!ames!aurora!eugene