Making Smart Cards Truly Portable

Abstract

A new communication framework makes USB smart cards portable by using the preinstalled device drivers included in modern computer operating systems. This framework could provide the missing link that lets general consumers secure their online access via smart cards.From phishing schemes to pharming scams, online identity theft is a risk that Internet users face as attackers continue to trick people into revealing personal information. One promising solution is the use of smart cards-secure, portable, and tamper-resistant cards with embedded microprocessors. Smart cards have successfully provided security services in many other domains over the past two decades as subscriber identification modules (SIMs) in cell phones, physical access cards for buildings and public transportation tokens for logical access to computers and networks, and identification cards or passports for citizens. However, having developed technologies for using smart cards to prevent online identity theft, we've found that it's very difficult to push such technologies to the general Internet consumer market. This article analyzes some of these difficulties and offers a solution for addressing them.