ByBrian Sutherland

and Chou Peter Hoang

A smart card also known

as an integrated circuit

Card as any credit card

or id size card with embedded circuits

thatcan process data.

Smart cards are very useful to any type oforganization that has data that needs to be

storedabout an individual. They can be used for

securityto identify and authenticate a user or

employee.Every FSU student and faculty member is

issued one of these smart cards when they come to

FSU.One main use of smart cards here at FSU is tostore electronic money which can be used to

payFor printing at public labs or buy snacks anddrinks at the vending machines across

campus.

KEY SMART CARD CIRCUIT

VCC : Power supply input RST : Either used itself (reset signal

supplied from the interface device) or in combination with an internal reset control circuit (optional use by the card). If internal reset is implemented, the voltage supply on Vcc is mandatory.

CLK : Clocking or timing signal (not all cards use this functionality).

GND : Ground (reference voltage). VPP : Programming voltage input

(deprecated / optional use by the card).

I/O : Input or Output for serial data to the integrated circuit inside the card.

Remaining contact pins are usually used for card specific operations.

Note: This is not the layout of all smart cards, this is an example.

HELMUT GROTTRUP

Helmut Grottrup inventedthe predecessor of the smart card. He invented the automated chip card

in1968 and patented it in1982. This was first used

inFrance for pay phones

Modern smart cards arenow being usedwirelessly for manythings such asSubway entry or as creditcards. Smart cards are

alsobeing used more and

morein the security industry foridentification andauthentication.

Cryptographic smart cards are often used for single sign-on. Most advanced smart cards are equipped with specialized cryptographic hardware that let you use algorithms such as RSA and DSA on board. Today's cryptographic smart cards are also able to generate key pairs on board, to avoid the risk of having more than one copy of the key.

With new smart cards identification of people has become easier than ever. Updating a persons security clearance can be done with the swipe of a card, and authentication of a persons identity can also be done with a swipe of a card.

Hackers can use new smart cards to re-write data on these cards if they are not encrypted. Like any other information if you can break into the storage you can re-write the information.

An example from the FSU card, if you could re-write the data on your smart card you could get free drinks, snacks or printing anywhere that the smart card is used for payment on campus.