Tech Watch

When IBM inventor Ed Kelley suddenly discovered that his telephone calling card had been canceledthe number had been stolen and used for exorbitant calls to Central America and Asiahe decided he'd had enough. To put an end to swiped identities and pilfered credit cards, he and IBM engineer Franco Motika set about developing a new generation of smart cards. The recently patented, theftproof card contains a computer chip and features a tiny numerical keypad right on its face. The cardholder inputs a PIN, stored directly in the card's circuitry; the same code must be entered before each use. The PIN...

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