Smart Card Interfacing | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  |  |  |  | Smart Card Adv. |  |  | More Secure |  | | Harder to Duplicate | | | Often Encrypted | | | Added Security | | | Multi-applications | | | Expire Date Programming | | | | The investment in smart card technology can pay off with added security features and multiple application benefits. | |  |  |  | | | | Edited by Bill Zalud, SECURITY magazine.
The following article appeared in the June, 1999 issue of SECURITY magazine.
A CEO inserts his identification card into the reader attached to his computer. He can now access classified financial reports. A 20-year old slides her student photo ID into a vending machine. She is now able to select her beverage of choice. Her card works just like cash in the campus pay phones, laundromat and bookstore as well. It even allows the student to check out library books. A nurse uses her hospital ID card along with a fingerprint check to enter the drug room.
For years, businesses and organizations have been using identification cards for basic security. But now, security and other functions can integrate through the smart card with a built-in computer chip.
Standard Procedures
Many businesses issue employees photo ID cards containing bar codes or magnetic stripes for building access. The initial steps for producing these cards are the same for smart cards. A photo is taken, and the data is stored in a visual imaging computer system. When the proper coding unit is put on the computer printer, a card can be generated with a bar code or a mag stripe added to it. With a smart card, a computer personalization unit can enliven its visible gold chip as the card is being generated. Building access is often one of the initial security measures programmed onto the chip.
It is possible to add a chip to an existing mag stripe card. The existing mag stripe readers will continue to read the card's stripe. New chip readers installed at other locations expand applications. These chip readers, like the mag stripe readers, tie into their own specific software on the existing computer system.
New Heightened Security
The only information in a traditional mag stripe or bar code card is usually an identification number. One mag stripe card can operate no more than one or two different applications.
The smart card is not just a number. With its built-in PC chip, it's programmable. This ability makes it a platform with unlimited possibilities.
Of course, the smart card's increased functionality comes at a higher cost. Therefore, if a company does not need more solutions than they are already getting from a bar code or mag stripe, a switch might not be warranted. But the heightened protection and the growth potential provided by a smart card chip could well justify its expense.
A mag stripe or bar code card is secure as long as it is in the right hands. If it is stolen, someone else may be able to use it. It might also be possible to pull the number off and duplicate the card. A chip is harder to remove data from as it is usually encrypted. A smart card may also have applications that require added levels of control, such as passwords or biometrics. And an expiration date is usually programmed into the chip.
When considering a smart card system, it is important to begin by defining present and future applications. What are the company's or organization's growing security needs? It's often best to start with basic measures, like photo identification and building access. Then a plan can be devised for future systems integration. By knowing the specific type of growth to expect, you can choose the right size and type of chip.
Increasing Use Stateside
The acceptance of the smart card in the United States has been slower than in Europe and South America. It is in part a privacy concern. Innovations such as the use of electronic cash require a major cultural shift. But undeniably, the possibilities do now exist to perform many tasks more efficiently and effectively. The smart cards are coming to the U.S. by application, and largely in closed systems. Bill Bialick of SPYRUS, the network security company in California's Silicon Valley, has an inside view. "What we're seeing is a lot of interest, a lot of pilots and a lot of growth in the area of access control smart cards."
One example Bialick points to is the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's new PKI. By using smart cards, deputies can now authenticate access while in their cruisers. Such access enables them to obtain a driver's license photo and history information at a traffic stop.
College Campuses, being large closed systems, are proving to be extremely successful smart card environments. The University of Michigan has had the "Mcard" since 1995. In a campus setting, cash and possible theft can be minimized in stores, vending machines, etc., by using smart cards. (Value can be added back on when a card is inserted along with a ten or twenty dollar bill into a "change" machine.) The student photo identification card can also be programmed to selectively access campus buildings and computer terminals. Completed course work can even be added to the card.
Many of these same applications are useful in a corporate or government environment. Businesses can vary the amount of access employees have to different programs within the computer network. The Department of Defense uses smart cards in their military mess halls to avoid the problem of meal tickets being sold or given away. Doctors and insurance companies are beginning to issue medical records smart cards to their patients and customers. This is a useful item for the patient as well as a safeguard for the insurance company against fraud.
Like the original personal computer, the introduction of the card with the programmable chip will have tremendous consequences. Though now people might be questioning exactly what they are to do with the smart card, in time they will wonder how they ever got along without it. For more information, click here or call 800-233-0298. | 
