Smartcards – Mifare/Contact

Tweet

A smart card, chip card, or integrated circuit card (ICC), is any pocket-sized card with embedded integrated circuits. A smart card or microprocessor cards contain volatile memory and microprocessor components. The card is made of plastic, generally polyvinyl chloride, but sometimes acrylonitrile butadiene styrene or polycarbonate. Smart cards may also provide strong security authentication for single sign-on (SSO) within large organizations.

Overview

A smart card may have the following generic characteristics:

• Dimensions similar to those of a credit card. ID-1 of the ISO/IEC 7810 standard defines cards as nominally 85.60 by 53.98 millimetres (3.370 × 2.125 in). Another popular size is ID-000 which is nominally 25 by 15 millimetres (0.984 × 0.591 in) (commonly used in SIM cards). Both are 0.76 millimetres (0.030 in) thick.
• Contains a tamper-resistant security system (for example a secure cryptoprocessor and a secure file system) and provides security services (e.g., protects in-memory information).
• Managed by an administration system which securely interchanges information and configuration settings with the card, controlling card blacklisting and application-data updates.
• Communicates with external services via card-reading devices, such as ticket readers, ATMs, etc.

Benefits

Smart cards can provide identification, authentication, data storage and application processing.

The benefits of smart cards are directly related to the volume of information and applications that are programmed for use on a card. A single contact/contactless smart card can be programmed with multiple banking credentials, medical entitlement, driver’s license/public transport entitlement, loyalty programs and club memberships to name just a few. Multi-factor and proximity authentication can and has been embedded into smart cards to increase the security of all services on the card. For example, a smart card can be programed to only allow a contactless transaction if it is also within range of another device like a uniquely paired mobile phone. This can significantly increase the security of the smart card.

Governments gain a significant enhancement to the provision of publicly funded services through the increased security offered by smart cards. These savings are passed onto society through a reduction in the necessary funding or enhanced public services.

Individuals gain increased security and convenience when using smart cards designed for interoperability between services. For example, consumers only need to replace one card if their wallet is lost or stolen. Additionally, the data storage available on a card could contain medical information that is critical in an emergency should the card holder allow access to this.

Contact Smart Cards

Contact smart cards have a contact area of approximately 1 square centimetre (0.16 sq in), comprising several gold-plated contact pads. These pads provide electrical connectivity when inserted into a reader.

The ISO/IEC 7810 and ISO/IEC 7816 series of standards define:

• physical shape and characteristics
• electrical connector positions and shapes
• electrical characteristics
• communications protocols, including commands sent to and responses from the card
• basic functionality

Cards do not contain batteries; power is supplied by the card reader.

Reader

Contact smart card readers are used as a communications medium between the smart card and a host (e.g., a computer, a point of sale terminal) or a mobile telephone.

Because the chips in financial cards are the same as those used in Subscriber Identity Modules (SIMs) in mobile phones, programmed differently and embedded in a different piece of PVC, chip manufacturers are building to the more demanding GSM/3G standards. So, for example, although the EMV standard allows a chip card to draw 50 mA from its terminal, cards are normally well below the telephone industry’s 6 mA limit. This allows smaller and cheaper financial card terminals.

Contactless Smart Card

A second card type is the contactless smart card, in which the card communicates with and is powered by the reader through RF induction technology (at data rates of 106–848 kbit/s). These cards require only proximity to an antenna to communicate. They are often used for quick or hands-free transactions such as paying for public transportation without removing the card from a wallet.

Like smart cards with contacts, contactless cards do not have an internal power source. Instead, they use an inductor to capture some of the incident radio-frequency interrogation signal, rectify it, and use it to power the card’s electronics.

Applications of Smart Cards

• Credit cards
• Electronic cash
• Computer security systems
• Wireless communication
• Loyalty systems (like frequent flyer points)
• Banking
• Satellite TV
• Government identification

Source : wikipedia.org