Play Tetris on a chip and pin terminal

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Boffins at Cambridge University have managed to hack a tamper-resistant chip and pin terminal so it can play a game of Tetris.

Stephen Murdoch and Saar Drimer, researchers at the Security Group at the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory managed to open up the terminal and replace most of the inner workings that control the screen, card reader and keypad.

"Steven suggested that in order to show that it is completely under our control, we should make it play Tetris (similarly to the guys who made a voting machine play chess)," said Drimer on their blog.

Drimer said it was important to remember that even perfect tamper resistance only ensures that the terminal will no longer be able to communicate with the bank once opened.

"It does not prevent anyone from replacing most of the terminal's hardware and presenting it to customers as legitimate, so freely collecting card details and PINs," he said.

The video of the chip and pin game can be found here.

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