The smart card, introduced in its modern form in 1978, has become a common convenience. As of 2009, smart cards can be seen in many everyday devices, from cell phones to debit cards and memory devices. The main idea behind smart cards was to use compact chip technology to process data inside of whatever device it is implemented in.
Contact-Based Smart Cards
Contact-based smart cards are basically those which need to be plugged into something in order to work. There are generally two types of contact-based smart cards out there. One is a memory card, which will only allow you to read and write memory on it. The other is a microprocessor card, having significant processing capabilities as well as memory in it. The latter is usually used in much more complex devices, such as cell phones and credit cards. Memory cards are another familiar face. They appear in laptops, cameras, and other devices that need storage. However, their complexity does not compare to microprocessor smart cards because all they do is append to the storage capability in devices. Phones also use these kinds of cards to give another boost to what their SIM cards already provide.
Contactless Smart Cards
The contactless version of a smart card communicates with devices through radio frequency identification (RFID). In the entire process of communication, the card never needs to touch the reader device. This kind of technology is used in devices that make processes faster, such as boarding a bus and paying its fare or paying with a credit card.
Credit Card Chips
Some credit cards have a small shining chip on the front. If your card has one of these, then you have a contact-based smart card that has a microprocessor inside it. The reason your card has this little component inside it is to make sure that the transaction is encrypted and neither you, the bank, nor any third party can sniff into the transaction and siphon money from either party.
Security Concerns
The arrival of contactless cards on the market has raised some particular concerns about security. Since the cards communicate through RFID, the distance margin is far greater than that of magnetic or contact cards. RFID makes it possible for a thief to stand a small distance from you and still be able to read the data in your card. The main concern is the security of privacy. Fortunately, the data in the card is encrypted with 128-bit or other types of encryption, making it highly unlikely for the thief to really process the data.
Contact Sections
Smart cards receive electrical signals from different directions and from different readers. Every reader that a contact-based smart card is placed in will place some electrical contacts on top of the card, right above each section that is split off. In order to prevent the signals from going to the wrong end of the card, the metal contacts on the card itself are split from one another.
Tags: contact-based smart, smart cards, your card, cell phones, contact-based smart card, contacts card