Securing Multi-Application Smart Cards by Security-by-Contract

La tecnología de Java Card ha evolucionado hasta el punto de permitir la ejecución de servidores y clientes Web en una tarjeta inteligente. Sin embargo, desarrollos concretos de tarjetas inteligentes multiaplicación no son aún muy corrientes dado el modelo de negocio de descarga asíncrona y actualización de aplicaciones por diferentes partes que requiere que el control de las interacciones entre las aplicaciones sea hecho después de la expedición de la tarjeta. Los modelos y técnicas de seguridad actuales no soportan dicho tipo de evolución en la tartjeta. Un enfoque prometedor para resolver este problema parece ser la idea de Seguridad-mediante-Contrato (SxC). SxC es un entorno en el que se hace obligatorio que cualquier modificación de una aplicación tras la expedición de la tarjeta traiga consigo una especificación de su comportamiento en lo que concierne a seguridad, llamado contrato. Este se debe ajustar a la política de seguridad de la tarjeta multiaplicación. A causa de los recursos limitados de estos dispositivos, el enfoque de SxC puede ser aplicado a diferentes niveles de abstracción, según un jerarquía de modelos la cual proporciona beneficios en términos de complejidad computacional o expresividad del lenguaje. El nivel de más detalle (mayor expresividad) requiere algoritmos demasiado complejos para ser ejecutados en la tarjeta, por lo que es necesario enviar datos de forma privada a una tercera parte de confianza que será la responsable de realizar la comparación del contrato y la política de la tarjeta (proceso llamado Comparación Contrato-Política) con objeto de decidir si la modificación se ajusta a la política de seguridad o no; es decir, si el cambio es aceptable según el comportamiento esperado por la tarjeta y expresado en su política. El propósito del proyecto es desarrollar un sistema el cual resuelva el problema de externalizar el proceso de Comparación Contrato-Política a una entidad externa para tarjetas inteligentes multiaplicación de Java. Este sistema debe garantizar una comunicación segura entre la tarjeta y alguna tercera parte de confianza sobre un medio inseguro. La comunicación tiene que ser segura en términos de autenticación, integridad y confidencialidad. Lograr este objetivo requiere resolver problemas tales como la gestión de identidades y claves y el uso de funciones criptográficas para hacer segura la comunicación de datos privados almacenados en la tarjeta inteligente. Es por ello que los objetivos del proyecto son: Diseñar un sistema que resuelva el problema, implementar un prototipo que demuestre la validez del sistema y validar el prototipo y valorar su idoneidad en cuestión de espacio

Electronic Government: Progress in Promoting Adoption of Smart Card Technology

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Smart cards--credit-card-like devices that use integrated circuit chips to store and process data--offer a range of potential uses for the federal government, particularly in increasing security for its many physical and information assets. GAO was asked to review the use of smart cards across the federal government (including identifying potential challenges), as well as the effectiveness of the General Services Administration (GSA) in promoting government adoption of smart card technologies.

Supporting application's evolution in multi-application smart cards by security by contract

La tecnología de Java Card ha evolucionado hasta el punto de permitir correr tanto servidores como clientes Web dentro de una tarjeta inteligente. Además, las tarjetas inteligentes actuales permiten tener instaladas en si mismas múltiples aplicaciones, las cuales pueden ser descargadas y actualizadas a lo largo de la vida de la tarjeta. Esta nueva característica de las tarjetas inteligentes las hace muy atractivas para ambos usuarios y desarrolladores de tarjetas inteligentes debido a las nuevas posibilidades que estas proveen. El uso de estas tarjetas inteligentes no supone ningún problema cuando las aplicaciones han sido instaladas antes de que la tarjeta haya sido sellada porque las interacciones entre las aplicaciones instaladas han sido comprobadas a priori con sus respectivas políticas. El problema surge cuando las aplicaciones pueden ser descargadas dinámicamente y la seguridad de la información intercambiada entre estas aplicaciones no puede ser asegurada. Por ello, el uso de las tarjetas inteligentes como tarjetas multi-aplicación es todavía extremadamente raro debido a que las aplicaciones en ellas instaladas, las cuales contienen información sensible, provienen de diferentes proveedores. Debido a esto es necesario un método que controle las posibles interacciones entre las aplicaciones instaladas. Dado que los actuales modelos y técnicas de seguridad para tarjetas inteligentes no soportan este tipo de evolución, es necesario un nuevo método donde el comportamiento referente a la seguridad se ajuste con la política de seguridad de la tarjeta anfitriona en caso de nuevas descargas o actualizaciones. La conformidad entre el comportamiento de la tarjeta y la política de la tarjeta debe ser comprobada durante la petición de instalación o de actualización evitando la necesidad de los costosos métodos de monitorización en tiempo de ejecución. Además deberá asegurarse que no existirán fugas de información en su intercambio entre las aplicaciones. Este nuevo modelo propuesto, que será llamado seguridad por contrato (SxC usando las siglas en inglés) tratará con los posibles cambios tanto en los contratos de las aplicaciones como en los de la política de la plataforma dinámicamente. En el presente PFC se presenta y desarrolla un modelo de políticas y contratos así como los algoritmos que se encargarán de asegurar la certificación de las aplicaciones. También, debido a la limitación de memoria en las tarjetas inteligentes el sistema será testeado con un ejemplo real

RIFL 1.1: A Common Specification Language for Information-Flow Requirements

The RS³ Information-Flow Specification Language (RIFL) is a policy language for information-flow security. RIFL originated from the need for a common language for specifying security requirements within the DFG priority program Reliably Secure Software Systems (RS³) (http://www.spp-rs3.de). In this report, we present the syntax and informal semantics of RIFL 1.1, the most recent version of RIFL. At this point in time, RIFL is supported by four tools for information-flow analysis. We believe that RIFL can also be useful as a policy language for further tools, and we encourage its adoption and extension by the community

Near Field Communication: From theory to practice

This book provides the technical essentials, state-of-the-art knowledge, business ecosystem and standards of Near Field Communication (NFC)by NFC Lab - Istanbul research centre which conducts intense research on NFC technology. In this book, the authors present the contemporary research on all aspects of NFC, addressing related security aspects as well as information on various business models. In addition, the book provides comprehensive information a designer needs to design an NFC project, an analyzer needs to analyze requirements of a new NFC based system, and a programmer needs to implement an application. Furthermore, the authors introduce the technical and administrative issues related to NFC technology, standards, and global stakeholders. It also offers comprehensive information as well as use case studies for each NFC operating mode to give the usage idea behind each operating mode thoroughly. Examples of NFC application development are provided using Java technology, and security considerations are discussed in detail. Key Features: Offers a complete understanding of the NFC technology, including standards, technical essentials, operating modes, application development with Java, security and privacy, business ecosystem analysis Provides analysis, design as well as development guidance for professionals from administrative and technical perspectives Discusses methods, techniques and modelling support including UML are demonstrated with real cases Contains case studies such as payment, ticketing, social networking and remote shopping This book will be an invaluable guide for business and ecosystem analysts, project managers, mobile commerce consultants, system and application developers, mobile developers and practitioners. It will also be of interest to researchers, software engineers, computer scientists, information technology specialists including students and graduates.Publisher's Versio

Topics in electronic money

There has been an increased interest on the electronification of payments systems in the last two decades in general and on electronic money (e-money) on particular in the last decade with increased computing power and decreased cost of communication. E-money did not only attract attention from the academicians but also from central bankers, financial supervisory authorities, treasuries, finance ministries and innovators and operators all around the world. The purpose of this thesis is fourfold. Firstly, it seeks to define and critically assess e-money including the expected functions, necessary features, its potentials and major implications for different sides of financial system. Secondly, it tries to present empirical evidence on the current stage of e-money technology with two case studies, namely Mondei and Digicash. Thirdly, it investigates the perception of e-money innovators and operators with an assumption that they have the power and influence on the future shape of e-money. This section includes the analysis of two European surveys and one additional comparative survey conducted in Miami, the US. Lastly, it studies the free banking implications of e-money covering the impact on monetary policy framework and monetary policy instruments including whether e-money should be regulated or not. The research finds that the current definitions given to the e-money phenomenon is incomplete and defines the necessary functions and features for the future success of e-money applications. It describes e-money trends in Europe and compares it to the US perception finding no serious differences although the FED and the ECB have different approaches to money. Another conclusion the thesis reached is that e-money may result in a new approach to central banking with a contestable framework through the synergies with free banking. Finally, e-money is not seen as a danger for the successful conduct of monetary policy and the thesis underlines that when it is `representative', regulation is possible whereas `independent'money issuance may manage to stay out of the coverage of conventional regulatory frameworks

A User Centric Security Model for Tamper-Resistant Devices

In this thesis we propose a design for a ubiquitous and interoperable device based on the smart card architecture to meet the challenges of privacy, trust, and security for traditional and emerging technologies like personal computers, smart phones and tablets. Such a de- vice is referred a User Centric Tamper-Resistant Device (UCTD). To support the smart card architecture for the UCTD initiative, we propose the delegation of smart card owner- ship from a centralised authority (i.e. the card issuer) to users. This delegation mandated a review of existing smart card mechanisms and their proposals for modifications/improve- ments to their operation. Since the inception of smart card technology, the dominant ownership model in the smart card industry has been refer to as the Issuer Centric Smart Card Ownership Model (ICOM). The ICOM has no doubt played a pivotal role in the proliferation of the technology into various segments of modern life. However, it has been a barrier to the convergence of different services on a smart card. In addition, it might be considered as a hurdle to the adaption of smart card technology into a general-purpose security device. To avoid these issues, we propose citizen ownership of smart cards, referred as the User Centric Smart Card Ownership Model (UCOM). Contrary to the ICOM, it gives the power of decision to install or delete an application on a smart card to its user. The ownership of corresponding applications remains with their respective application providers along with the choice to lease their application to a card or not. In addition, based on the UCOM framework, we also proposed the Coopetitive Architecture for Smart Cards (CASC) that merges the centralised control of card issuers with the provision of application choice to the card user. In the core of the thesis, we analyse the suitability of the existing smart card architectures for the UCOM. This leads to the proposal of three major contributions spanning the smart card architecture, the application management framework, and the execution environment. Furthermore, we propose protocols for the application installation mechanism and the application sharing mechanism (i.e. smart card firewall). In addition to this, we propose a framework for backing-up, migrating, and restoring the smart card contents. Finally, we provide the test implementation results of the proposed protocols along with their performance measures. The protocols are then compared in terms of features and performance with existing smart cards and internet protocols. In order to provide a more detailed analysis of proposed protocols and for the sake of completeness, we performed mechanical formal analysis using the CasperFDR.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

On practical information flow policies for Java-enabled multiapplication smart cards

In the multiapplicative context of smart cards, a strict control of underlying information flow between applications is highly desired. In this paper we propose a model to improve information flow usability in such systems by limiting the overhead for adding information flow security to a Java virtual machine. We define a domain specific language for defining security policies describing the allowed information flow inside the card. The applications are certified at loading time with respect to information flow security policies. We illustrate our approach on the LoyaltyCard, a multiapplicative smart card involving four loyalty applications sharing fidelity points.Anglai

On Practical Information Flow Policies for Java-Enabled Multiapplication Smart Cards

International audienceIn the multiapplicative context of smart cards, a strict con- trol of underlying information flow between applications is highly desired. In this paper we propose a model to improve information flow usability in such systems by limiting the overhead for adding information flow security to a Java Virtual Machine. We define a domain specific lan- guage for defining security policies describing the allowed information flow inside the card. The applications are certified at loading time with respect to information flow security policies. We illustrate our approach on the LoyaltyCard, a multiapplicative smart card involving four loyalty applications sharing fidelity points

Precision Agriculture Technology for Crop Farming

This book provides a review of precision agriculture technology development, followed by a presentation of the state-of-the-art and future requirements of precision agriculture technology. It presents different styles of precision agriculture technologies suitable for large scale mechanized farming; highly automated community-based mechanized production; and fully mechanized farming practices commonly seen in emerging economic regions. The book emphasizes the introduction of core technical features of sensing, data processing and interpretation technologies, crop modeling and production control theory, intelligent machinery and field robots for precision agriculture production