Google Wallet Security Advisory: PIN Exposure Risk Due To Flaws

It turns out that stealing someone's Google Wallet funds isn't that much more difficult than stealing that person's actual wallet, according to a few recently publicized exploits. "I think these types of vulnerabilities threaten to kill the adoption of NFC before it is even fully born," said the Yankee Group's Carl D. Howe. "All forms of mobile payment rely on being able to trust the payment system." Mobile shopping received a setback last week when security researchers discovered flaws in Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) Wallet that could potentially expose its PIN to enterprising hackers.

When Google introduced its wallet, it bragged that it was secure because transaction information was stored in a "secure element" in Wallet-enabled phones. What researchers at a security outfit called zVelo discovered, though, was that the PIN for the wallet was stored outside the "secure element" where it could be cracked with a brute force attack.

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