Stripe Snoop / News: Recent posts

Stripe Snoop 1.6 Alpha has been re-released. I fixed the source code to make sure it compiles on all platforms, and included a Windows installer. SS 1.6 Alpha will be the last update, before the next version. 1.6 Alpha supports -P, to allow for different ports to be selected. It also has -1, -2, and -3 command line options to read different tracks and character sets using the modifications described in the hardware section of the website.

Stripe Snoop, *the* tool for reading magstripe and other research was featured on the Screensavers yesterday (9/28/04). Its a shame the project is getting so much attention just before I put on version 1.6. Hopefully all these folks will stick around a week or so to get the new release.

http://www.g4techtv.com/screensavers/episodes/3508/Dick_DeBartolo_HighTech_Headphones_Mag_Strips.html

A new mailing list, stripesnoop-announce has been created to inform our users when new version are released or other major news happens.

Also, the bug tracker and feature request features of SF will now be the preferred way to provide us with feedback. Do you have a new card to sumbit, a new idea? Did you notice a problem in the database or an incorrect bank name? Please tell us!

The pre-release of Stripe Snoop 1.6 is out. It is available only as source code. It currently allows Tracks 1 and 3 to be read. The database has also been expanded. Read the readme for full details

The code in the CVS tree now supports OS X/BSD builds. If you build on any OS other than Linux or Windows, the functions/methods that access the gameport reader hardware are not compile into the final binary. If you try to use any options in Stripe Snoop that need to use a gameport hardware interface (ie running in normal mode, or running in raw mode), you'll get a message saying those options are not supported on your platform.... read more

I've uploaded version 0.5 and 1.0 of SS. 0.5 was in VB, and an adaption of the source code from the original 2600 article. In fact, the debugging output is the only thing I even like about this release anymore.

1,0 is a little more respectable. Shows you how the C source looked before the CVS tree on SF was created

Thanks to all the vistors from Slashdot for your interest. The project progresses, and hopefully I'll get more than 40 vistors a day now!

Stripe Snoop parses and analyzes data from magstripe cards, displays their contents, and then tries to identify the card using a database of known card types, providing meaning to an otherwise raw character dump. Magstripe data can be captured through a variety of methods and interfaces, including stdin. Release 1.5 has doubled the size of the card database Stripe Snoop uses. The interface was been polished a good bit as well, and more information is returned about card types from the database. Also, card types with unknown elements are brought to the users attention, so they know when they have information that the projects needs. By making it easier to contribute, the program should receive new blood. 1.5 also comes with even more sample bitstreams of different card types to experiement with.... read more

Stripe Snoop parses and analyzes data from magstripe cards, displays their contents, and then tries to identify the card using a database of known card types, refining its output by printing data inside specific fields. Release 1.4 adds support for reading magstripes from keyboard based magstripe readers (such as Cherry POS keyboards), from gameport based readers, or from stdin. The database has been expanded to identify more card types. Several sample bitstreams of different card types are included to experiement with.... read more

Stripe Snoop is a suite of research applications that reads, parses and analyzes the bitstreams of magstripe cards. Beyond simply displaying the encoded contents, Stripe Snoop tries to identify the card with a database of known card types. It then displays the formated results, giving meaningful names to the different areas.

The CVS tree and nightly build now includes support for keyboard based magstripe readers, such as those made by Cherry Keyboard (http://www.cherrycorp.com/english/advanced-line/keyboard-magnetic-stripe-card-read-series-g81-7000-8000.htm). While support is still primitive, you no longer need to build your own reader from parts to capture raw bitstreams. Futhermore, the cost of a Cherry keyboard is about 1/2 of what it costs to get the parts! A Force Mode has also been added to parse damaged and nonstandard cards.... read more

Stripe Snoop parses and analyzes bitstream of magstripe cards, displays their contents, and then tries to identify the card with a database of known card types. It then displays the formated results. Release 1.3 supports bitstreams read from a hardware reader (plans included), or from stdin. The database has been expanded to identify more card types. Several sample bitstreams of different cards are included to experiement with. Finally, 2 command line tools have been added to aid in creating and checking bitstreams without a hardware reader.... read more

Because alot of people I know want to use Stripe Snoop, but don't have a reader, the Input mode has been added. Using "-i" a bitstream is read from stdin instead of from the hardware interface. It will be parsed, decoded, and checked in the database as if it came from the reader.

The code for this feature isn't in a release yet, but it available in the CVS tree.

Stripe Snoop reads the contents of a magstripes through different hardware interfaces and not only displays the contents, but also uses a database of card formats to try and figure out what those contents mean. Release 1.2 adds support for Linux/Unix like builds, as well as a primitive database with Visa support.