Secure network access using multiple applications of AT&T's smart card

Fraud amounting annually to billions of dollars occurs due to the failure of conventional network access security systems, including data, voice, and credit card authorization networks. At the same time, consumers demand greater convenience in their daily lives, where a multitude of passwords and personal identification numbers, badges, keys, and other devices have become unmanageable. In response to the obviously conflicting needs, AT&T has developed a credit card sized device, the contactless AT&T Smart Card. By means of an internal microprocessor, the card provides the secure partitioning of authentication codes and data files, as well as encryption capabilities, using the data encryption standard. This paper provides a basic description of the card technology, and the overall architecture of securing access to multiple networks with the AT&T Smart Card.