Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
a USB key, reading the contents of memory and thus replicating the key.
Obviously it is a procedure that requires specific skills in electronics and the
availability of appropriate tools. Yet the skills required and the necessary
tools are readily available and anyone with a good basic knowledge of
electronics may be capable to perform these procedures.
5.3.3
Smarts cards
There are two types of smart cards available in the market: those with a
magnetic band and those with an integrated chip. Among the chip-based
cards, the most simple and less secure are certainly the cards with memory
chips, while those with a processor can be considered much more secure.
The magnetic bands of cards, should be read with cheap and simple
devices and on the Internet hundreds of sites explain how to copy cards using
the heads of old VCRs.
Furthermore, the content of the magnetic bands of this type of cards, not
only is unprotected, but it is written in clear without any form of encryption.
Data present in the band, therefore, can be easily read and also immediately
changed.
Chip-based cards have a technology that makes it possible writing data
and block them by means of a password. This allows for the protection of the
chip contents, both in reading and in writing, and it is possible to encrypt the
information written in the memory card with a mechanism of public and
private keys.
The card processor resets or alters (as instructed by its creator) the
contents of memory if a user tries repeatedly to access memory with the
wrong password.
Smart cards can be read by contact (magnetic and chip cards) or by
appropriate receivers of radio signals. In this case we speak of contactless
cards, i.e. the content is simply read towards a special antenna. These cards
have a chip memory in which to insert the data and an antenna to communicate
with the player.
Being more complex, magnetic cards have a greater security degree. If on
a scale from 1 to 10 magnetic cards are at level 1 (lowest) and the chip cards
to level 10 (the higher) contactless cards can be placed in the middle scale
(level 2-4).
5.3.4
Proximity tools
Proximity tools are devices which exploit radio signals to perform an
authentication process. These systems read the contents of the memory of
a special tool available to the person that must be authenticated. The
authentication procedure may include local access to an access point (logon
to the physical machine), or even to a server on the network. In this case,
