Smart Cards

Smart card applications are growing fast as the need for security becomes more and more critical. But smart card systems are not identical to RFID technology systems. Smart card readers and writers operate on the same premise as their RFID counterparts; but they use different standards. Manufacturers of smart cards, readers and writers typically evolved from companies manufacturing other personnel access applications, rather than from the supply chain family tree RFID readers and tags often originate from.

There is nothing simple about defining what a smart card is. About the only thing smart card technologies have in common is the plastic they reside on or are coated with. They may look like the typical credit card, like a key fob, or any shape that suits a practical or marketing propose like a Star of David shape smart card manufacturer Vanguard ID Systems created for a chain of delicatessens. Smart card technology can be built into cell phones or other handheld devices. In other words, a smart card may not really be a card, but it must be smart.

The most common card with smarts use magnetic stripe technology, which need to be swiped against a reader to transmit their information. These cards usually have embossed characters, sometimes with a photo ID for visual matching and frequently holographic security. Other cards have barcodes, which in the 21st Century do not seem so smart. Biometric cards of all types, especially touch technology, are gaining popularity for security purposes. Optical cards have laser-sensitive material that stores information much like a CD-ROM does, which at 4-6.6MB of capacity gives them the biggest brain of the smart set. They are read by a laser, much like a CD is read.

Here at RFID Switchboard the smart cards we refer to will primarily be those containing contactless chip technology. These cards have microchips attached to antennas that transmit information using radio frequencies, just like RFID tags and labels. The standards for contactless card technology are ISO/IEC 14443 and ISO/IEC 7816, which operate over much shorter ranges than typical RFID. These cards are primarily used to store, verify and/communicate personal identity information for access control.

The highly secure nature of smart cards was their first selling point into widespread use. They are tamper resistant, not tamper proof; but they raise the bar far higher than mag strips and other lower-tech choices. Private information being stored can be encrypted so that interlopers cannot successfully intercept the data as it travels between card and reader. Digital security is often used to ensure the integrity of the information exchange. Hashes, programs executed in the data stream that can perform tasks like confirming digital signatures, are one example. Another is random number generators, which can activate dynamic cryptographic keys, offering security far beyond that of a mag strip.

Another feature driving smart card adoption is their ability to process information, not just store it. They are able to verify that the reader attempting access a card is the properly authorized one, and allow a particular reader to access only that information it is permitted to read. With the addition of a Personal Identification Number (PIN) or biometric element, unauthorized access is further prevented.

Biometric technologies are becoming more commonly used in combination with smart cards, as personal security becomes ever more critical. Identity theft is driving this marriage of technologies, since physical attributes of the card holder can be contained within the microchip. Fingerprints and retina scans are far more secure than matching a facial photo when being used for access control, ensuring the identity of the person in possession of the card matches the personal data stored on the card.