Homebrew magnetic swipe card emulator
Craig of flashingleds was apparently looking for distractions from his PhD work, so he built a magstripe card spoofer to try and gain entry into his own research lab.
magstripe
DIY Square reader keychain stash
Square, Inc. makes a magstripe reader that attaches to your smartphone’s minijack and allows you to process credit card transactions with their handy service. It’s a pretty cool setup if you’re interested in payment processing. When you’re not using it though, you’re stuck with this eraser-sized plastic fob that you really don’t know what to do with. It’s small enough to put in your pocket, but it’s a little too important to accidentally let go through the wash, yet you want to keep it handy for when you’ll need it.
MAKE subscriber Steve Cooley may be onto a suitable solution to this problem. Using a dab of Shapelock, a key ring, and a rubber band, he’s fashioned a custom key fob stash that fits the Square reader like a glove. It’s a little kludgy, but it’s a great proof of concept.
Arduino magstrip emulator
Using not much more than an Arduino, a piece of metal shim, and a bunch of wire, Instructables user sketchsk3tch built this Arduino Magstripe Emulator, which purportedly can spoof a magnetic card reader into thinking a card has been swiped.
Prototype iPhone mini jack magstripe reader
The prototype iPhone payment system Square, currently in testing at a trendy clothing store in NYC, has been generating a lot of buzz for the past couple of days. What caught my attention was its use of the mini jack as a communication port.
