Security issues of emerging smart cards fare collection application in mass transit

Abstract

Mass transit fare collection has advanced over the last couple of decades from cash and tokens to magnetic stripe cards. Smart cards are emerging as the desirable new fare collection medium because of the numerous problems associated, with the operations and maintenance of the magnetic stripe cards. Smart cards are microprocessor based memory cards with built-in logic all embedded in a chip and contained in a credit card sized plastic carrier. They have the ability to store large amount of data which can be altered and updated by programming. In mass transit applications, smart cards combine the secure, cashless transactions and personalized applications that encourage passengers to use mass transit, while they provide transit authorities with demographic information. Smart cards can be used as debit, credit or stored-value cards for transit. Fraud and fare evasion can also be reduced by adopting the smart cards-based fare systems. The cards are more difficult to counterfeit than tokens or magnetic stripe card, and they can be programmed to prevent immediate re-use. Recent publications indicate that the chip is the principal element in achieving security in the smart card end product. Therefore, security in smart cards application is attained during the initial design by the chip manufacturer where elements of the design may include memory and access control.