Jeep said:
Hello,
I'm looking for the difference between a smart card and a sim card.
Indeed I've found a component to be interfaced with a smart card and I
want to know if it also works for SIM card.
As Kryten mentioned, a SIM card is electrically the same as a smart card.
You didn't mention what you wanted to do with the SIM card, but there
are a few things to be aware of. Not all the information on a SIM card
is accessible, and others are not changeable. For instance, the unique
key identifying the card cannot be changed, and the network crypto keys
cannot be read. And perhaps the most important thing is that you can
permanently lock yourself out of your SIM card. I forget the exact
details (its been several months since I did GSM SIM card development),
but when attempting to gain higher access to the card (like to install
applets) you have to enter in a PIN code. If you get this wrong (I
think you have about 10 tries), then the card locks down to a point
where you have to enter in a master key (I believe it is called the
PUC). If you get that wrong 3 times, the card will refuse to function
from then on. This is a security measure to prevent brute-force attacks.
For the work I was doing, we were using re-branded USB smartcard
readers, so you shouldn't have any problem with the reader.
- Nathan