1998-04-27 , ESC-9746

Schlumberger's Cyberflex™ smartcard, the world's only Java™ smartcard, is now available with one of Philips Semiconductors' most advanced secure chips, the cryptocontroller. The new cryptocontroller will provide much higher levels of security for Cyberflex and allow Java to be used for mass market applications such as banking, telecom, electronic commerce and Pay TV.

Cyberflex has attracted the attention of hundreds of the world's largest corporations and is expected to have a major impact on sectors such as banking, IT and telecommunications. But before smartcards can become part of everyday life, one of the key issues that needs to be addressed is ensuring sensitive data can be transferred and stored securely. The P83C858 IC from Philips Semiconductors offers high security and high performance while offering maximum flexibility in choosing and implementing specific public key algorithms.

A maximum key length of 2048 bits is provided and the key length can be scaled in steps of 32 bits. In addition, the cryptocontroller contains the FAME (Fast Accelerator for Modular Exponentiation) arithmetic coprocessor, which has the highest execution speed of any smartcard IC in production: card manufacturers can access the security advantage of long key lengths, for sensitive applications such as banking or transfer of personal data, without compromising processing speed.

Philips Semiconductors is currently the only company shipping cryptocontrollers for high volume commercial use. In addition to being selected by Schlumberger for its Cyberflex range, the company is a major supplier of security microcontrollers for nationwide electronic purse schemes in Europe and for the worldwide Pay TV market.

Java is fast becoming the ideal solution for developing smartcard applications. Multiple applications written in Java - because of their size - can be run on a single card; an important step towards reaching the mass market and the ultimate goal of using a single smartcard to replace several of today's magnetic stripe and other plastic cards. Java is also a widely-known programming language so application development is not restricted to a handful of specialists. This reduces the cost of developing new applications, allowing them to be brought to market faster.

Cyberflex provides an easy to access Java platform so applications can be written and trialled in days, as opposed to conventional smartcard projects which require a time consuming mask creation cycle during IC manufacture. In addition, applications can be easily added or removed from Cyberflex cards even after manufacture, an increasingly important feature as smartcards become more like conventional computers and need to be adapted to meet users' changing needs.

Cyberflex development kits are already installed at hundreds of sites around the world, and several new applications are about to start trials.

Schlumberger Electronic Transactions, a division of Schlumberger Ltd (NYSE-SLB), provides cards, terminals and management systems in a wide range of applications using magnetic stripe cards and smart cards. As the leading supplier to the electronic transactions industry, the company provides cards and systems to telecommunications, retail sales, banking, service station, car-parking, transport, healthcare and community (e.g. universities) sectors. In 1997, the company produced 540 million cards. The private and public sectors are turning increasingly towards cashless and paper-free transactions. Present in over 100 countries, Schlumberger has design and production facilities in Europe, North America, South America and Asia, and the Electronic Transactions division offers various products and services in the domain of financial and secure data transactions.

Philips Semiconductors is currently the only company shipping cryptocontrollers in high volume for commercial use worldwide. Applications include banking and secure financial transactions, Pay TV security, network access and telecommunications. More than 4.5 million cryptocontrollers in total have been supplied to customers, representing a 60% share of the total cryptocontroller market.

Philips Semiconductors, a division of Philips Electronics NV, headquartered in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, is the ninth largest semiconductor supplier in the world. Philips Semiconductors is a leader with a proven reputation in the development and production of Crypto-controller and Contactless Smart Card ICs. Philips Semiconductors' innovations in digital audio, video and mobile technology position the company as a leader in the consumer, multimedia and wireless communications markets. Sales offices are located in all major markets around the world and are supported by regional application labs.

Cyberflex is a trademark of  Schlumberger, Java is a trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc. and RSA is a registered trademark of RSA Data Security.