What is Mifare ™?
MIFARE ™ is a popular range of intelligent cards that can be read wirelessly at short distances. They can store identity information and monetary value and are most often used as tickets or passages in mass transit systems. This technology owns NXP Semiconductors, Dutch Spin-Off Philips. The security of some Mifare ™ products was questioned in mid -2000, when it was found that the encryption scheme in the widely used card was vulnerable to the attack.
The product line consists of several different contactless intelligent cards, ie wirelessly accessible credit card size with some form of integrated computer intelligence. The classic Mifare ™, introduced in the mid -90s, is a little more than a few advanced circuits and some memory. Mifare ™ Ultrarefy, available in both encrypted and non -scramble formats, is sufficiently cheap to be used for disposable tickets. At the higher end of the product line are based on a micropRocesorukarts like Mifare ™ Desfire, Prox and SmartMX that have a higher degree of security and flexibility.
All cards in the family share the ability to store money or information about identity, usually in encrypted form. NXP Semiconductors, the Dutch Spin-off-off electronic giant Philips, owns in addition to the production of its own series of cards rights and licenses of other companies. A fully functional system based on Mifare ™ often includes several different companies, each providing part of the overall system. Back-end readers and systems can be purchased from one supplier while the cards may come from another.
Many mass transit providers worldwide use the rebrated versions of Mifare ™ smart cards as monthly passages, charging passages or even one -off tickets. Charlie Card Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority and released card Oystertransport for London OBAnd they used classic Mifare ™ technology. In some regions, the value deposited on these mass transit can be used to buy in convenience stores or from other traders. Other use of technology includes identification cards of students or faculties, tickets to sports events or restrictions on entrances to the building for specific staff.
In 2007, scientists in the area of safety began to examine the proprietary encryption scheme used in the classic Mifare ™ cards. The encryption technique was found to be susceptible to several types of attacks; During the year, several different groups have shown that cards can be easily read and even duplicated. NXP responded with Mifare ™ Plus, a backward compatible device that uses a more sophisticated advanced encryption standard (AES) to protect its content. Systems that use the older classic line remain vulnerable, but can implement other safety measures for card readers and partially reduce this vulnerability on the back.