Patent ID: 9578763
Date: 2017-02-21
CPC Classifications: G06F,H05K

Claim:
1. A card reader with built-in tamper protection, comprising: a processor; a card reader interface, coupled to the processor, to read data from a wallet-size card; an output terminal, connectable to a mobile device, through which to output the data read from the wallet-size card to the mobile device; a security module to perform a security operation of the card reader; a first conductive trace and a second conductive trace disposed within the card reader to facilitate tamper detection; a battery to supply power only to the security module, the battery serving as the sole source of power for the security module; a resistor through which to supply the power from the battery for use in the tamper detection, the resistor having a first terminal coupled to the battery and a second terminal coupled to the first conductive trace; and a tamper detection system including a first detector and a second detector to detect a plurality of tampering-induced conditions associated with the first and second conductive traces respectively, and in response to detecting any of the plurality of tampering-induced conditions, to output a signal to disable said security operation of the card reader, the plurality of tampering-induced conditions including a short circuit condition and an open circuit condition,