More and more called a "hot item", the main thing people think of when referring to the term "Smartcard" is a piece of plastic. What is it that makes smart cards special, and in what way can they be used to provide solutions to specific problems? This article will try to answer these questions from a technical point of view.

When thinking about a smartcard as a piece of plastic, we all know it's more than just that. Behind the gold coloured contactpoints is the part that makes the card smart: the integrated circuit (IC), also referred to as chip. The chip holds a CPU and also ROM, EEPROM and RAM. The ROM contains a small embedded operating system (OS) that offers a set of functions to the world outside the smartcard. Putting all these parts together, you get a fully functional computing device with the size of a penpoint.

The IC of the smartcard doesn't include power supply, and the IO to/from the IC is managed through the contact points. What is needed to add these requirements and be able to communicate with the IC is a so called smartcard reader device (also referred to as interface device or smartcard terminal). This device is the interface between application software and the functionality of the operating system of the smartcard.

One of the most important features of smartcard technology is this: a smartcard is capable of implementing cryptographic functionality in the embedded OS and storing secret information in the card that can not be read by a user. This is a feature that can not be implemented in any other (cost efficient) product available at this moment.

Basically it comes to this: a smartcard can be used as a device that holds secret key data used for cryptography. When integrated in a system, smartcards can be used to act like a (personal) key to restricted areas, it can be used to digitally sign data before sending it to a receiver, or it can serve as the source on which to base a encrypted communications channel. Smartcards can be used as a relatively cheap tool to greatly enhance the level of security in an area where a mechanism is necessary for restricted access.

The smartcard technology is capable of delivering solutions for these situations, but also the level of usability makes it possible to extend the capabilities of a smartcard even further. Because of the small size of the smartcard it is highly mobile and can be taken with the card holder any place. The fact that there is software inside the card means that the functionality of the smartcard can be extended and one smartcard can be used for more than one application. And, based on cryptography, applications that are highly fraud-sensitive can be implemented safely inside the card, creating a broad new range of solutions not possible without smartcard technology.