Researchers hack Visa cards in six seconds

A research team from Newcastle University in the U.K. discovered a method to hack credit cards, including dates and security codes, in as little as six seconds.

The method uses a “Distributed Guessing Attack” in which online payment websites are used to guess the data and the reply to the transaction will confirm whether or not the data was correct, according to a Dec. 2 press release.

Researchers were able to use this technique work out card numbers, expiry dates and security codes of any Visa credit or debit card because current online payment system don’t detect multiple invalid payment requests from different websites. Subsequently, the researchers were able to try an unlimited amount of guesses on each card data field, using up to the allowed number of attempts – between 10 and 20 guesses – on each website.