Analysis of Security Models For Smart Cards

Smart cards are an old breed of ubiquitous embedded-computing devices that are increasingly gaining popularity for electronic business transactions. When these smart cards are used over networks that can be covertly snooped, such as the Internet, there is a potential threat to the security of these transactions. In this report, I describe and analyze security models for smart cards that are used for electronic commerce. An analysis of the security components of JavaCard technology, a relatively new software platform for running Java applications on smart cards, is also presented. I briefly introduce and analyze the concept of secure coprocessing and trusted co-servers which, when augmented with JavaCard, can guarantee security of electronic transactions.