A User Centric Security Model for Tamper-Resistant Devices

3.4 User Centric Smart Card Ownership Model (UCOM)
3.4.1 Supplier
A supplier is an organisation that sells UCSCs. A smart card manufacturer, an SP, or a
third party vendor can be the supplier. The suppliers ensure that the UCSCs supplied
to a user have a reliable and secure platform that supports the UCOM and fulls the
requirements of a UCSC, as stipulated in section 3.5.3.
3.4.2 Cardholder
A cardholder is not just a user of the UCSC, but she is also the owner of the card.
Cardholders would have the ability to install and delete any application they require. A
cardholder would also be a registered customer of the respective SPs. The cardholder could
install an application on the UCSC after being authorised by the corresponding SP. After
installation, the cardholder could use the application to access associated services.
From a UCOM's perspective, cardholders do not have to be technically literate (about the
underlying architecture of the platform) and do not have to be trusted users. In subsequent
chapters, it will be shown that we adopt the default assumption that the cardholder may
be malicious.
3.4.3 User Centric Smart Card (UCSC)
The UCSC is the cornerstone of the UCOM proposal. It provides a seamless framework
for application installation, management, and deletion to the cardholder. The ownership
management and delegation (i.e. the transfer of ownership between dierent users) is also
provided by the UCSC while preserving the integrity and security of the platform, and the
privacy of the cardholder. Furthermore, the UCSC manages secure communication with
the respective SP to request the lease of the application. An SP does not have to trust the
cardholder, but they need to trust the smart cards. The UCSC supports mechanisms that
can provide dynamic and ubiquitous security assurance and validation to the requesting
entity. It ensures that during the lifetime of the smart card, the entire platform along with
the installed applications will be secure and reliable.
Henceforth, we will be using the term UCSC and smart card interchangeably, unless otherwise
specied.
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