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Nur noch mal zur Erinnerung für die Visionäre unter uns: Multi-Application Smart Cards May Be The Wave Of The Future, Gates Says May. 18, 2000 (Card News, Vol. 15, No. 10 via COMTEX) -- Microsoft Chairman Sees Security Issues Driving Smart Card Deployment It was his first speech since the Justice Department asked a federal judge to break his company in half, and what did Microsoft Corp. [MSFT] Chairman Bill Gates have on his mind? Smart cards. Speaking to attendees of the Networld + Interop 2000 show in Las Vegas last Tuesday -- many of whom had been bitten by the notorious Love Bug virus -- Gates pointed out that new security challenges may require new weapons, and smart cards are likely to emerge as a key piece of the arsenal. "Every week we`re reading about how some security hole has been opened up, or how there`s some case where security principles weren`t followed through. The fact is, over 99 percent of all security problems really relate to the fact that it`s very difficult to administer these systems, difficult to know if you have changed the passwords enough, if you have gotten all the policies on all the different objects set so that your intent is being obeyed," Gates told the audience. "So what`s the real answer to that weak link? Well, fundamentally it`s to move away from having the password be the only form of authentication," Gates said. "And although there are many approaches here, including the biometric approaches, I think the dominant approach will be the physical possession of a smart card, so that over time, every keyboard, every physical access within a corporation will be based on having a smart card or a smart card plus password. Today almost no corporations are using this approach, so there`s a lot of work to be done in the industry to get this bootstrapped." Gates pointed out that his company already is focusing on using smart cards to address security issues at the operating system level. "With Windows 2000 we did achieve a number of milestones. It`s the first [operating system] OS that`s got the integrated smart card support," he says. "It`s got this very reliable authentication system in Kerberos, we`ve got the support for IP SEC, the encrypted file system. And it`s really the first time you`ve got a public key infrastructure so that through the directory, you can make sure you know exactly who has what privileges and what challenges have taken place against the security system. "I would say today that the weakest link in the security management is the fact that passwords are used to identify who is running the system," he continued. "And passwords, because people are writing them down or using the same password on systems that are less secure, that`s really the weak link. In fact, somebody calling up the administrator pretending to be somebody that loses their password, that`s probably the simplest way to break into most corporate systems." Impact on Financial Products Just as a rising tide lifts all ships, Windows support for smart cards and the emergence of cards that are focused beyond the primary mission of providing access to financial value, are likely to provide the raison d`etre for smart card deployment in the United States. "We may end up having smart cards in this country, but the way we use them will be different than the way they use them in Europe," says Bob Bucceri, principal, West Chester, Pa.-based Chaddsford Planning Associates. "Right now, if you look at the Microsoft initiatives and the American Express Blue initiative, while stored value is a part of it, it looks like the way people are selling these technologies is for the stored security aspect. I think that the ability to take data -- whether that data is value or personal data or security data -- and put it on the card, that technology is good, and I think it will find a home in this country and clearly is doing so today. In terms of what the killer application is going to be, I don`t think the killer application is going to be to download $20 from my PC onto a smart card so I can buy the newspaper every day at a kiosk." The killer app may well be one very similar to the one Gates outlined to the Networld + Interop crowd -- downloading some sort of security metrics onto that card. "I think that it may be a way in my workplace to logon to my PC and make sure that I`m the only one that has access to files," Bucceri says. "It may be in storing my medical records. I can have a personal copy of my medical file." There could be abundant e-commerce applications for the technology as well, such as allowing consumers to port it to their PC so they can order over the Internet and have the seller be reasonably convinced that the consumers placing the orders are who they say they are. Multi-Application Cards Are the Key The key to wide-scale smart card deployment is likely to rest with cards that aren`t just for financial transactions anymore. One such multi-application smart card initiative was announced last week by Reston, Va.-based CyberMark, a smart card provider for the higher education market and Campus Pipeline, Inc., a provider of integrated Internet infrastructure to colleges and universities. The companies have inked a strategic alliance to combine CyberMark`s smart card technology with Campus Pipeline`s college and university intranets and envision that schools will be able to issue ID cards that can be used as secure electronic identification for online campus services. Under terms of that deal, the companies will jointly market the combined solution to existing and prospective customers. The smart cards will look and act like student ID cards, but will also contain built-in intelligence and security so they may be programmed for a wide variety of uses. Colleges and universities will be able to initially use smart cards for campus identification and secure Campus Pipeline intranet and email authentication as well as dorm and building access, and library patronage. Eventually other smart card features may be added such as digital certificates, merchant loyalty programs, transit passes, electronic purses for vending machines and POS terminals, voting applications, and parking systems. Schools will be able to unite multiple existing systems, add new systems as appropriate and deliver single-card access to students, faculty and staff. "This alliance demonstrates Campus Pipeline`s drive to build an open and extensible Internet infrastructure that can unite a wide variety of world- class technologies," said Chad Muir, CEO of Campus Pipeline. "CyberMark`s smart card solution is an advance, complementary technology to our Web platform which we believe will add tremendous value for the schools we serve." "We are big believers that smart card deployments are going to accelerate here in the United States for a number of key reasons. Certainly Microsoft`s entry into this marketplace is going to have a significant impact, not just because Microsoft is a market mover, but because their platform is being conceived with smart cards, it unleashes literally thousands of developers who understand Microsoft development technology. These developers will instantly have the tools to build not only the new applications we`ve talked about, but all sorts of applications that will ride on top of that platform," says James Graham, chairman and CEO, CyberMark. "That`s going to do a lot," he continued. "There are mobile commerce developments that will accelerate the card issuance -- GSM technology by definition incorporates the smart card into their technology and in a big picture it allows any user to pick up any handset and personalize that handset. Motorola has introduced a two-slot mobile telephone that will clearly jump start mobile commerce and allow you to load a second smart card, which will contain a purse and other capabilities into that mobile telephone. That mobile telephone kind of becomes a personal ATM." The CyberMark card, which will be launched with Campus Pipeline this fall, has the capability to perform a wide variety of applications, from opening dorm rooms to stored value. In the stored value environment, the cards can be used in a variety of vending machines including washers and dryers and snack machines. It also can be used to manage a student`s meal plan, which is often a driving factor on college and university campuses. The smart card also provides logical as well as physical security, meaning that it has auto logon capabilities to Web sites and restriction from certain Web sites. In terms of physical security, it can be used for everything from opening a parking lot gate, to ticketing for sports events, to voting and conducting polls on campus. It also can be used for attendance records, which are required by many state financial aid programs. As with most leading-edge technology deployments, the biggest question is not necessarily if, but when. "The question is how far in the future," says Bucceri. "Clearly the technology can do it. It`s not that it`s unfeasible, it`s how quickly people will adopt that." Noch ein kleiner Kommentar von mir: Was interessiert mich die Meldung von heute oder morgen? Was interessiert mich ob das AMEX-Listing nun im September oder im Dezember erfolgen wird? Wichtig sind für mich die Visionen, die kombiniert mit den Fakten (wie hier bei Upgrade, der Ausbau der Produktionskapazitäten) für mich ein Investment in Upgrade/Ultracard rechtvertigen. escapado |
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| aus der Diskussion: | upgrade 62. Forum alles im grünen Bereich |
| Autor (Datum des Eintrages): | escapado (22.09.00 12:27:15) |
| Beitrag: | 58 von 101 (ID:1898766) |
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