Glossary
PA
Passive Authentication
PAC
PIN Authentication Code.
Page Size
The smallest number of bytes in EEPROM memory that can be written with one write operation. Page sizes in smart cards vary from 1 to 32 bytes
Passive (Condensor) Components
Electronic component that conducts functions and calculations provided by an active (controller) component by means of electronic switching, for example a condensor.
Path
The location of a file with respect to the root directory.
PBT
Pin Based Transaction.
PC Card
Standard architecture-independent extension device. These cards are typically used in laptop computers (formerly called PCMCIA).
PC/SC
.(Personal Computer/Smart Card) PC/SC - The PC/SC (Personal Computer/Smart Card) Workgroup was formed in May 1996 in partnership with major PC and smart card companies. The main focus of the workgroup has been to develop specifications that solve the interoperability problems with smart cards and readers. The PC/SC specifications are based on the ISO 7816 standards and are compatible with both the EMV and GSM industry-specific specifications. In December 1997, Microsoft released the 1.0 version of the PC/SC SDK, which now ships on the Windows 98 CD and will be integrated as part of the core Windows NT 5.0 operating system.
PCMCIA
Personal Computer Memory Card International Association. Association to standardize PC cards.
PCN
Personal Communications Services. A variant of the GSM wireless phone standard.
PCS
Personal Communications Services. A variant of the GSM wireless phone standard (sometimes called GSM 1900). See GSM.
PDA
Personal Digital Assistant.
Portable Document Format (Adobe Acrobat)
PDS
Prompted Data Signing
Peer-to-Peer
Said of an information system when the participants are both "users" and "service providers."
PEM (Privacy Enhanced Mail):
An IETF standard for secure electronic mail exchange.
Personalization
Process of loading a card with data specific to an individual cardholder. Physical personalization such as embossing, printing and hologram and electronic personalisation i.e loading personal data in the circuit card's memory.
PGP
Pretty Good Privacy
PGWC
Provincial Government of the Western Cape (South Africa)
PHF:
Phone book file demonstration program that hackers use to gain access to a computer system and potentially read and capture password files.
Phone Card
A card that can be used for the payment of telephone charges, typically in a pay phone
PIN
Personal Identification Number.
PIN Pad
A small keypad on which a cardholder keys in his PIN
PIN Verification
The security process which confirms the cardholders PIN
PIV
Personal Identification Verification
PKA
public key algorithm.
A cryptographic algorithm that uses a pair of keys, a public key and a private key, that are different from one another. The public key is published and available to anyone wishing to send an encrypted communication to the holder of the private key. See also SKA (secret key algorithm).
PKC
Public Key Cryptography.
PKCS
Public Key Cryptography PKCS - Public Key Cryptography System is a set of imformal inter-vendor standard protocols developed by RSA for making possible secure information exchange on the Internet. The standards include RSA encryption, password-based encryption, extended certificate syntax, and cryptographic message syntax for S/MIME, RSA's proposed standard for secure e-mail.
* PKCS #3: Diffie-Hellman Key-Agreement Standard
* PKCS #5: Password-Based Cryptography Standard
* PKCS #6: Extended-Certificate Syntax Standard
* PKCS #7: Cryptographic Message Syntax Standard
Informal inter-vendor standards developed in 1991 under the impetus of RSA. More information at: http://www.rsasecurity.com/rsalabs/pkcs/
* PKCS #8: Private-Key Information Syntax Standard
* PKCS #9: Selected Attribute Types
* PKCS #10: Certification Request Syntax Standard
* PKCS #11: Cryptographic Token Interface Standard
* PKCS #12: Personal Information Exchange Syntax Standard
* PKCS #13: Elliptic Curve Cryptography Standard
* PKCS #15: Cryptographic Token Information Format Standard.
PKI
Public Key Infrastructure. The software and/or hardware components which are necessary to enable the use of public key encryption technology.
PLCC
Plastic Leaded Chip Carrier. Method of packaging computer chips together
POS
Point of Sale. Location at which a customer makes a payment transaction.
PP
Protection Profile. Model used by the Common Criteria to determine a category of products, equipment or given systems (a payment smart card, a microcircuit, an operating system, etc.), objectives and requirements in the area of security , without any reference to specific implementation.
Prepaid Card
Stored Value Card. A card paid for in advance at point of sale permitting the holder to buy goods and services up to the prepaid value.
Private Key
Ciphering key used in a public key algorithm (also referred to as asymmetrical). It is kept secret (in a smart card, for instance, much safer than the hard drive of a PC). It forms a pair with its matching public key. Only the owner of that key can decipher the coded messages, using the public key. It can be used as a ciphering key (and deciphered by its public key) only to do digital signatures.
Private Key Cryptography
Private Key CryptographyAn encryption methodology in which the encryptor and decryptor use the same key, which must be kept secret. This methodology is usually only used by a small group.
Processor Card
A smart card that contains a microprocessor or microcontroller that can execute a program stored in the card’s memory.
Processor Core
See 'Core'.
Product ID
An identifier to manage the types or categories of cards by card issuer. It can be used to control application loading onto certain card base
PROM
Programmable Read Only Memory.
Protected Memory Card
Smart card that requires a secret code or PIN number to be entered before the data can be sent to or received from the semiconductor chip.
Protocol
1. On the Internet, see TCP/IP 2. A set of rules and procedures governing interchange of information between a smart card and a reader. The ISO defines several protocols, including T=0, T=1 and T=14.
Proton
A smart card operating system developed by Banksys in Belgium. Used for travel and entertainment by American Express, Hilton Hotels, and American Airlines in the United States and for e-cash in Sweden. For more information, go to www.proton.be.
Proximity
A contactless technology working at a distance of circa 10 cm.
Proximity Card
A contactless card whose presence and data can be sensed by an interface device not in physical contact with the card.
Proxy:
A firewall mechanism that replaces the IP address of a host on the internal (protected) network with its own IP address for all traffic passing through it. A software agent that acts on behalf of a user, typical proxies accept a connection from a user, make a decision as to whether or not the user or client IP address is permitted to use the proxy, perhaps does additional authentication, and then completes a connection on behalf of the user to a remote destination.
Public Key
Ciphering key of a public key algorithm (also referred to as asymmetrical). It can be made public without any risk (in an Internet directory, for instance). It is almost impossible to find the matching secret key by calculation. Secondly Public Key can refer to the individual Key that is published by the user to others to use verify signatures.
PUK
PIN Unblocking Key.
Purse File
A type of file in a smart card’s file system that is used to implement electronic purses.
PVC (polyvinyl chloride)
PVC
Polyvinyl chloride. Used plastic material for ID cards.
PVR
Personal Video Recorder