Chip maker sues Dutch university Oyster card hackers

The manufacturer of the Oyster card chip technology wants to stop publication of research report covering security aspects of the London travelcard

London's Oyster card was successfully hacked and cloned by researchers

A Dutch university is to be sued by NXP Semiconductors after the emergence of a paper outlining the recent cryptographic cracking of the Oyster smartcard.

Researchers from the Radboud University in Nijmegen hacked and cloned a Mifare RFID chip manufactured by NXP after an experiment with the Dutch Mifare-based smartcard.

It is understood that NXP wants to stop the publication of the report, but the researchers are still planning to detail the research findings at a European computer security conference to be held in October in Spain.

The case is to be held in a court in Arnhem, Holland, tomorrow (Thursday).