Tarjetas Inteligentes - About Smart Cards

Kalysis es un player innovador en tecnología de tarjetas inteligentes. Las afirmaciones acerca de las tarjetas inteligentes en este documento 'Tecnology Info' podría no ser de aplicación para la tecnología patentada de Kalysis: meramente reflejan el 'estado-del-arte' actual en el mercado.

Kalysis is an innovating player in smart card tecnology. The statements about smart cards in this document 'Tecnology Info' could not apply to Kalysis' patented tecnology: merely reflects the state-of-the-Art available at the present in the marketplace

A smart card – a type of chip card – is a plastic card embedded with a computer chip that stores and transacts data between users. This data is associated with either value or information or both and is stored and processed within the card’s chip, either a memory or microprocessor. The card data is transacted via a reader that is part of a computing system. Smart card-enhanced systems are in use today throughout several key applications, including healthcare, banking, entertainment and transportation. To various degrees, all applications can benefit from the added features and security that smart cards provide. According to Dataquest, the worldwide smart card market will grow to 4.7 Billion units and $6.8 Billion by 2002.

The smart card, an intelligent token, is a credit card sized plastic card embedded with an integrated circuit chip. It provides not only memory capacity, but computational capability as well. The self-containment of smart card makes it resistant to attack as it does not need to depend upon potentially vulnerable external resources. Because of this characteristic, smart cards are often used in different applications which require strong security protection and authentication.

For examples, smart card can act as an identification card which is used to prove the identity of the card holder. It also can be a medical card which stores the medical history of a person. Furthermore, the smart card can be used as a credit/debit bank card which allows off-line transactions. All of these applications require sensitive data to be stored in the card, such as biometrics information of the card owner, personal medical history, and cryptographic keys for authentication, etc.

In the near future, the traditional magnetic strip card will be replaced and integrated together into a single card by using the multi-application smart card, which is known as an electronic purse or wallet in the smart card industry. The smart card is becoming more and more significant and will play an important role in our daily life. It will be used to carry a lot of sensitive and critical data about the consumers ever more than before when compared with the magnetic strip card. Therefore, there are many arguments and issues about whether or not the smart card is secure and safe enough to store that information. This has always been a source of controversy.

Smart cards help businesses evolve and expand their products and services in a changing global marketplace. The scope of uses for a smart card has expanded each year to include applications in a variety of markets and disciplines. In recent years, the information age has introduced an array of security and privacy issues that have called for advanced smart card security applications.

Businesses, the government and healthcare organizations continue to move towards storing and releasing information via networks, Intranets, extranets and the Internet. These organizations are turning to smart cards to make this information readily available to those who need it, while at the same time protecting the privacy of individuals and keeping their informational assets safe from hacking and other unwanted intrusions. In this capacity, smart cards enable:

-Secure logon and authentication of users to PCs and networks
-Secure B2B and B2C e-commerce
-Storage of digital certificates, credentials and passwords
-Encryption of sensitive data
-Mobile Telecommunications

People using the Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) standard for mobile phones use smart card technology. The smart card is inserted or integrated into the mobile handset. The card stores personal subscriber information and preferences that can be PIN code protected and transported from phone to phone. The smart cards enable:

-Secure subscriber authentication
-Roaming across networks
-Secure mobile value added services

Wireless providers benefit from reduced fraud thanks to the security offered by smart cards. With the advent of mobile services such as mobile commerce, web browsing, and information services, wireless providers rely on smart cards to act as the security mechanism to protect those services. As a result, smart cards are beginning to move beyond GSM to secure mobile services for other wireless standards as well.

Smart cards also provide benefits for a host of commercial applications in both B2B and B2C environments. The smart card’s portability and ability to be updated make it a technology well suited for connecting the virtual and physical worlds, as well as multi-partner card programs. The cards store information, money, and/or applications that can be used for:

-Banking/payment
-Loyalty and promotions
-Access control
-Stored value
-Identification
-Ticketing
-Parking and toll collection

Multiple applications can be stored on the card, enabling partnering on card programs and providing benefit added convenience to the card readers costs.