Smart card authentication for Internet applications using NFC enabled phone

With ever-increasing number of Internet users sharing their personal information online, means of securely authenticating them have the great emphasis. The problem is that users are willing to share their personal data with their acquaintances, but most of the time, they lack experience and knowledge to protect themselves from theft and exploitation. Additionally, in the spirit of pervasive computing, user is mobile, often using public terminals, with no personalized configuration available and no guaranty that the environment is secured. Ensuring that every individual is who they claim to be is the basis and starting point for authorization, non-repudiation, as well as confidentiality and integrity of data transmitted. Solution is the usage of already popular mobile phone, benefiting from SIM card's tamper resistance to become trusted entity guarding personal information and identifying each user. Utilizing the PC interface, mobile phone passes the personal user keys only when needed, giving additional strength to the traditional public key cryptography approach in terms of security and portability.