Which of the following is a known sign that a card-reading device may have been tampered with or substituted?

Which of the following is a known sign that a card-reading device may have been tampered with or substituted?

• A. Missing or changed security labels
• B. The device's weight matches expectation
• C. The serial number is unchanged
• D. The device's firmware version is unchanged

Answer: (A)

Tamper-evident features on card-reading devices are designed to reveal unauthorized access. When security labels or seals are missing or have been altered, it signals that the device may have been opened, tampered with, or substituted. This is the clearest physical indicator because the seals are specifically meant to show interference. Other signs are much less reliable. A device that weighs as expected could still have been swapped with a component of the same weight, so weight isn’t a definitive hint. An unchanged serial number doesn’t guarantee the unit hasn’t been proxied or replaced, and firmware that hasn’t changed doesn’t rule out hardware tampering since the issue could lie at the hardware level or in a swapped device with the same firmware.

Tamper-evident features on card-reading devices are designed to reveal unauthorized access. When security labels or seals are missing or have been altered, it signals that the device may have been opened, tampered with, or substituted. This is the clearest physical indicator because the seals are specifically meant to show interference.

Other signs are much less reliable. A device that weighs as expected could still have been swapped with a component of the same weight, so weight isn’t a definitive hint. An unchanged serial number doesn’t guarantee the unit hasn’t been proxied or replaced, and firmware that hasn’t changed doesn’t rule out hardware tampering since the issue could lie at the hardware level or in a swapped device with the same firmware.