The Java Card Forum is meeting in China this week. This is a first for me, so I can’t tell how much Beijing has changed in the past 10 or 15 years, because I don’t know how it used to be. So, here is what I have seen (from a very naive point of view): […]
Category Archives: Discussions
Let’s tax Google! All of us!
I am French, and I must admit that my government spends a lot of time innovating about technology, in particular in relation with artistic creation. After enacting a wonderful antipiracy law that will cause problems to people with poorer network security skills than their neighbors, a recent report is suggesting to tax Google because it […]
We are the cherry on the NFC cake
I love Apple, at least for one thing. Even a rumor on an Apple product yields more articles on a technology than several real product announcements from other vendors. That’s the case for the NFC rumor. There are plenty of articles, including one on The Register that compares Apple to other NFC vendors and recalls […]
Thank you for the wonderful threat, M. Hadopi!
I work for a company that sells security technology and consulting for smart cards and mobile devices. Although we would most likely deny it, we take new threats as opportunities. We don’t go as far as writing viruses ourselves (because we don’t do such things, and also because we don’t sell antivirus), but a good […]
Cllient issues for Smart Card Web Servers
Just like any other Web server, a Smart Card Web Server (SCWS) depends greatly on the capabilities of its clients. A presentation by Peter-Paul Koch to Google gives a very good overview of the capabilities of the various mobile browsers. What you can read in this presentation is quite sad. There have been many discussions […]
Can Java Card pull the trick twice?
About 10 years ago, the first major issuers started many pilots and experiments based on Java Card 2.1 technology. Visa was pushing the technology actively, and many others were showing strong interest. Of course, Sun was also very active, pushing its Java technology into a new market that had the potential of putting them in […]
Card readers for online banking
A few weeks ago, Cambridge’s team of security researchers published a paper about the small card readers that are currently being deployed as a way to make online banking more secure. Their article is quite critical, and I would just like to review the vulnerabilities that they mention, because I don’t think that these products […]
Blackout
After New Zealand, it is France’s turn to organize an Internet blackout, as France is considering the adoption of a law that would cut Internet service to people who are suspected (twice) of copyright infringement. I strongly believe, among many others, that this law is wrong, for many, many reasons. However, there is one thing […]
Cloned debit cards are good for secure EMV cards
Reports about cloning debit cards have been all around, for instance here. The combination of cloning cards and making millions with a fraud scheme instantly makes smart card people happy: we told you that your magstripe cards would lead to big problems! OK. But let’s try to analyze this a bit deeper.
The French government and open security
Most links below link to French sites. In France, we have professional elections, in which we elect the judges who settle disputes between employees and employers (cases are judged by a panel with 50% of representatives of employers and 50% of representatives of employees). This is very nice, but most people don’t think that it […]