The State of Smartcard Security & Analysis (2021 Review)
Best for:
Advanced users who need a scripting environment to interact with complex card file systems.
Because this phrase is often associated with both legitimate security research and illegal activities (like TV piracy), it is important to distinguish between the two.
- Side-Channel Attacks: Academic and industry research focused on "Side-Channel Analysis" (SCA). Instead of "decoding" the software, these setups measure power consumption or electromagnetic emissions during a transaction to extract cryptographic keys.
- Post-Quantum Cryptography: In 2021, NIST was in the process of standardizing post-quantum cryptography. Developers used simulation and decoding tools to test how these new, heavier algorithms performed on constrained smartcard hardware.
- Mobile NFC: With the rise of mobile wallets, tools that "decode" NFC transactions (analyzing the EMV standard) became popular for developers creating payment terminals.
