Multiapplication smart card: Towards an open smart card?

Smart cards were invented four decades ago so as to keep data secrets and to process them secretly. Even though their main goal are still the same today, the smart cards have been subject to many evolutions at both their hardware and software levels. Indeed they have been the target of numerous attacks and new demands from the market. These demands have expanded their domains of application. When they were born and during some thirty years smart cards have been monolithic platforms with a fixed piece of software dedicated to one single application. But in the mid 90's, some technologies appeared that have broken this situation by enabling to easily host several applications on the same card. These new technologies have changed the business models and pushed the smart cards towards new domains and to a world where they will integrate lots of new functionalities.The aim of this paper is to give an overview of the evolution of the smart cards (and of their application domains) from monolithic static pieces of hardware and software to a flexible multiapplication platforms. This paper also explores the possibilities to see open multiapplication cards in the future and exposes the breakthroughs that are required to achieve in order to produce such cards.     

The UK Government’s first smart identity card

Immigrants seeking asylum in the UK are to be issued with chip cards carrying templates of their fingerprints.     

London’s Oyster card goes public…

One of the world’s most complex travel networks has begun issuing contactless smart cards to its customers, following years of preparations and trials. London’s Oyster smart card programme could see an end to lengthy queues, as well as combating the problem of fraud and hassle of losing a valuable season ticket.This is a short news story only. Visit www.compseconline.com for the latest computer security industry news.     

EFTPoS– the engine of the card business

The slow but increasing spread of chip-based payment cards, the introduction of the euro and the recent flurry of panic over the security of the smart card payment system in France offers new opportunities to point-of-sale terminal manufacturers.     

…as new EMV guide released

With less than a year before the January 2005 deadline arrives for conversion to smart card-based EMV technology in Europe, a new guide has been released that answers many of the key questions for card issuers and acquirers.     

…as Ingenico complies with Finread specs

Ingenico has successfully complied with specifications laid down by Finread, an international standard for secure smart card readers performing interoperable transactions on the internet.This is a short news story only. Visit www.compseconline.com for the latest computer security industry news.     

…as Brisbane places US$95 million order

As London’s Oyster project gets underway, the Queensland Government in Australia is embarking on an ambitious smart card based travel plan of its own. It has just signed a US$95 million contract with Cubic Transportation Systems-Australia, a subsidiary of Cubic Corporation, requiring the transportation company to design, build, operate and maintain the region’s first smart card-based integrated ticketing system.This is a short news story only. Visit www.compseconline.com for the latest computer security industry news.     

Schlumberger launches the network card that doesn’t require a reader

Smart cards offer an excellent means for providing the security required for network access, and for implementing the mechanisms needed for making payments, placing orders and exchanging confidential information over the Internet. It is true that security measures such as PKI can be implemented on PCs, but the fact that private keys can be kept on the card and never stored on the PC or transmitted across the network, gives the smart card the edge on security. The secret keys for encryption/decryption and for digital signature generation cannot be traced by a hacker.     

Impacts of low citizen awareness and usage in smart city services: the case of London’s smart parking system

Smart city applications and services are increasingly considered as strategic means to cope with emerging global challenges such as climate change, pollution, the ageing population, and energy shortage. In particular, smart parking is a type of smart services used to improve traffic congestion and pollution within cities. Nevertheless, although smart city services are driven by advanced information technologies, their success is highly dependent on user engagement, which is historically problematic. This paper presents and discusses the results of a case study on the smart parking service in London. A questionnaire (involved a total of 212 local drivers) was adopted as the main data collection method. This was complemented by the collection and analysis of 470 online user comments left for the service. The results showed that London’s smart parking service may potentially help each driver to save an average of £68 (62.2 l) on petrol annually and reduce CO₂ emissions by 238.14 kg per car per year. At city level, a smart parking system could help London save £183.6 million worth of petrol per year and reduce its annual CO₂ emissions by 642,978 tons. However, public awareness, actual usage, and user satisfaction of this smart service are currently very low. These present substantial barriers to realise the potential economic and environmental benefits of the service. This paper concluded that further to the very technological efforts, local authorities and service providers need to make a stronger endeavour to enhance public engagement and user satisfaction towards smart services, in order to realise the promises of such solutions.