Wear your data on a Java chip - News - Business

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This story was printed from ZDNet Australia.
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Wear your data on a Java chip

November 07, 2000
URL: http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/business/soa/Wear-your-data-on-a-Java-chip/0,139023166,120106747,00.htm

The iButton allows you to sign an electronic document, store a list of user names/passwords, keep a copy of an ID photo, and accept updates for the e-commerce transactions of new service providers.

DALLAS - A wearable, Java technology-based computer with ample storage for safekeeping all the credentials of an individual was unveiled Thursday by Dallas Semiconductor.

The DS1957B Java-powered iButton on a 2-in-1 Fob serves as both a physical key for touch-and-go access to buildings and a computer key for network log-on as well as e-signatures for the Internet.

Inside the 16mm steel-encased iButton is a Java computer with a 64 kbyte ROM and 134 kbyte RAM that can store over 30 certificates with 1024-bit keys using ISO X.509v3, reportedly the most widely recognized public-key certificate format.

In addition, the DS1957B can store hundreds of user names and passwords, a color ID picture, and the application programs of many different service providers.

All personal credentials are both cryptographically and physically secure on the steel-armored chip, wear-tested for 10 years of durability to ensure extreme up-time.

Whether issued by a corporation for its employees or acquired by an individual from Dallas Semiconductor's online store, the Java-powered iButton can span personal, corporate, financial and governmental applications.

The iButton can have multiple Java applets resident at the same time for applications including:

access control to buildings and equipment
secure network log-on using challenge/response authentication
storage vault for user names and passwords
user profile for rapid Internet form-filling
digital signatures for e-commerce
United States Postal Service Postal Security Device for PC
Postage downloadable over the Internet
digital ID photo and fingerprint biometrics

The iButton can be updated for Web-based applications not yet invented. Because its memory contents can be revised after issuance as often as desired, future software can be downloaded from the Internet.

If logically attacked, the firewall of the iButton prevents access to the private keys. If physically attacked, the iButton has a tamper response that erases the private key rather than reveal it in order to preserve confidentiality.

"The Java-powered iButton can be worn on the accessory of choice," said Michael Bolan, vice president of product development, Dallas Semiconductor. "Dallas Semiconductor offers a ring, watch, wallet, badge holders, metal card, and key fob - accessories that are for close keeping at all times and that people are well-practiced at not losing.

"Dallas' newest accessory, the 2-in-1 Fob, supports dual use for both physical and computer access control. One end of the fob holds an iButton for door entry and the other end has a protected Universal Serial Bus (USB) connector for universal access to computers."