Microscope-wielding boffins crack Tube smartcard

12 March 2008

This article in The Register describes Karsten Nohl’s work on the Mifare cryptanalysis:
Microscope-wielding boffins crack Tube smartcard: The keys to London Underground, and plenty more. (12 March 2008)

For non-British readers, here’s how Wikipedia defines a “boffin”:

In the slang of the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, boffins are scientists, engineers, and other people who are stereotypically seen as engaged in technical or scientific research. The word conjures up an image of men in thick spectacles and white lab coats, obsessively working with complicated apparatus. Portrayals of boffins emphasize both their eccentric genius and their naive ineptitude in social interaction. They are, in that respect, closer to the “absent-minded professor” stereotype than to the classic mad scientist.

(For the record, Karsten doesn’t usually wear white coats.)