Smart Card is basically a plastic card whose size and shape is relevant to that of credit or debit card. Usual credit or debit card contains magnetic strip for the operation purpose. In the similar way, Smart card contains embedded integrated circuits. This embedded integrated circuit or we can say, microprocessor is under the golden contact pad on any one side of smart card. Smart Cards are generally used for phone calling, bill payments and other purposes.
(Source:- www.identityweek.com)
Smart cards can store more data than the magnetic strip card. Also, it can be programmed for various applications. If the geographical popularity of smart card is taken into consideration, Europe dominates the United States. The extensive usage of smart card is concentrated in the health insurance and banking domain in the Europe. Though the popularity of smart cards is increasing on a global scale, still they are attaining a bad shape in the United States. United states is focused on the usage of magnetic strip technology on a large scale. But the magnetic strip is a bad choice for sensitive information storage because the data contained in the strip can be easily manipulated with certain equipment. However, the microprocessor in the smart card is highly capable to handle the security issues.
(source:- panam.gateway.com)
The integrated circuits in the smart card has the following specifications:-
- 8 KB (max.) - RAM (Random Access Memory)
- 346 KB (max.)- ROM (Read Only Memory)
- 256 KB (max.)- Programmable RAM
- 16-bit Microprocessor
http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/16693828
No comments:
Post a Comment