Java Card
Java Card refers to a technology that allows small Java-based applications (applets) to be run securely on smart cards and similar devices. It is widely used in SIM cards (used in GSM mobile phones) and ATM cards.
The first Java Card technology - based smart cards were introduced in 1997 by several companies including former Schlumberger's card division (now Axalto) and Gemplus. Java Card products are based on the Java Card Platform specifications developed by Sun Microsystems.
The main features of this technology are portability and security.
Portability
The Java Card Virtual Machine is responsible for interpreting the Java Card applet bytecodes which is a subset of standard Java [Java 2 - Stanard Edition], and thus requires less space in the host media (smartcard) than on regular computing device. Java Card applets are smaller in size which enables them to be loaded and occupied in resource contrained device like smartcards. A trade-off of this feature, however, is that not all Java features are supported. Although there are methods for overcoming the size limitation of an application, such as dividing application's code into packages, the size of each package still may not exceed 64 KB.
Security
Java Card technology was originally developed for the purpose of securing sensitive information stored on smart cards.
Security is determined by various aspects:
- Data encapsulation. Data is stored within the application, and Java Card applications are executed in an isolated environment (the Java Card VM), separate from the underlying operating system and hardware. Different applications are additionally separated from each other by an applet firewall.
- Cryptography. The most commonly used encryption algorithms (including elliptic curve cryptography) are supported.
The financial sector, as well as the communications sector, currently rely on this technology for securing information in smart card media.
See also
- Java Card OpenPlatform (JCOP), a secure operating system based on Java Card.