A smart card generally consists of an electronic module M attached to a plastics material card body or support S, in practice by means of a resin or an adhesive, as shown in the
The electronic module M is a microcircuit comprising one or more microprocessors (or more generally electronic “microchips”) MP electrically connected to a printed circuit CI (or to a conductive grid) carrying the external electrical contacts C of the microchip. The two connection techniques most frequently used are:
wire bonding (see
flip chip mounting (see
It is to be noted that the face A of the microchip carrying in particular its connecting areas and its memory blocks (not shown), i.e. the face on which, in practice, all the operations of producing the microcircuit constituting the microprocessor have been effected beforehand, which is called the “active face”, is situated opposite to the printed circuit in the case of wire bonding connections (downward in
It is also to be noted that in certain cards (in particular those of the dual interface type), the chip is connected not only to the external contacts but also to the ends of an antenna ANT inside the card body (
The plastics material support carries the printed imagery of the card and sometimes (in particular in the case of bank cards or identity cards) security features making the card difficult to reproduce (holograms, “invisible” ink, patterns that are complex to print, etc.).
However, there are many fraud techniques, certain of which are based on analyzing the behavior of the chip when it is operating. For example, a fraudster can apply optical means (flash, laser, etc.) to selected areas of the active face to interfere with the operation of the microprocessor and to analyze the response of the microprocessor to that interference.
The above technique necessitates visual access to the microchip whilst at the same time maintaining the integrity of the electrical connections in order to enable it to operate.
Said visual access is obtained either by removing the portion of the plastics material support constituting the bottom of the cavity to which the module is attached in the case of a wire bonded microchip (dashed line area in
The methods used include milling, spot-facing, etching with acid and applying solvents.
Thus visual access is obtained directly if the resin or the adhesive between the wires (or between the bosses in the case of a flip chip connection) is transparent.
If the resins or adhesives contain pigments that render them visually opaque, it is possible either to use lasers functioning at specific wavelengths at which the resins or adhesives are transparent or to dissolve the resins or adhesives locally using acids or solvents that do not affect the active face of the microprocessor or its electrical connections (
The benefit for the fraudster of leaving the module in the card is the possibility of using the card again after analyzing it, complete with the security elements of the plastics material support, after concealing the “hole”.
An object of the present invention is to provide a smart card structure whereby any intrusion aimed at creating direct visual access to the active face of the microprocessor leads to irreversible disconnection of the microcircuit even though the module remains attached to its plastics material support, as a consequence of which it is therefore no longer possible to operate the microchip on its support by interfering with the active face in a controlled manner using optical means.
To this end the invention proposes a smart card including:
a plastics material body,
a module attached to that body and comprising a support carrying external electrical connection areas,
at least one electronic microchip carried by said support and having a face called “active face” carrying internal electrical connection areas, and
respective electrical connections between said external electrical connection areas and said internal electrical connection areas,
characterized in that at least one of said connections includes a conductive track that is conformed and disposed so as to overlie the active face, visually concealing a significant portion thereof with at least one wide portion, and has at least one narrow portion adapted to bring about easy disconnection by breakage thereof in the event of moving that track or eliminating the whole or a portion of that track facing the active face.
Thus the invention proposes making one or more of the electrical connections between the microprocessor and the printed circuit by means of opaque conductive tracks visually concealing a significant portion of said microprocessor so that direct visual observation of and optical interference with the active face of said microprocessor necessarily destroys said tracks beforehand, thereby disconnecting said microprocessor and rendering it inoperative.
In the present context, the expression “a significant portion of the active face” refers to a portion that is sufficiently large, in terms of the area of the active face or in terms of the nature of the components thereon, to minimize optical access to that active face with the aim of causing ill-timed operation of the microchip(s).
According to preferred features of the invention, which may where applicable be combined:
at least certain of the connections include conductive tracks conformed and disposed so as to be conjointly complementary to conceal the major portion of said active face; there are therefore at least two conductive tracks which, over a portion of their length, have shapes which are complementary (but always without contact) in order to mask a significant portion of the active face (the expression “the major portion” means more than 50% or even more than 75% of the area of the active face),
at least said conductive track consists of alternating patterns of larger area adapted to conceal visually a significant portion of said at least one electronic microchip and patterns of smaller area adapted to break easily in the event of an attempt to move that track or an attempt to eliminate the whole or a portion of that track facing the microchip; in this way each track includes a plurality of points that will rupture readily in the event of an attempt to move the track or to eliminate the whole or a portion of the track facing the active face,
said at least one electronic microchip having its active face facing the bottom of the cavity in the plastics material body; and at least said conductive track is formed on the bottom of said cavity and overlies said active face, concealing a significant portion thereof from visual observation; this is a variant of the wire bonding connection cited above; said conductive track may be formed on the bottom and lateral walls of the cavity, or to the contrary under the bottom thereof (for example carried by an inlet embedded in the body and connected to conductive wells),
said at least one electronic microchip having its active face facing the support of the module opposite the external connecting areas, at least said conductive track is formed on an internal face of the support aligned with said active face and concealing a significant portion thereof from visual observation; this is a variant of the flip chip connection cited above,
at least said conductive track is formed on the bottom and the lateral walls of said cavity, being electrically connected to a first intermediate area formed on an internal face of the support of the module and electrically connected to one of the internal connecting areas and to a second intermediate area electrically connected to an external connecting area; it is to be noted that this conformation of the track may be used regardless of the orientation of the active face: it is proposed hereinabove when the active face faces the bottom of the cavity, but it may also be used when the active face faces the internal face of the support, with connections between the internal connection areas and intermediate areas themselves connected to external areas via tracks on the bottom and the sides of the cavity: this protects both faces of the microchip,
at least said conductive track is produced by photo-etching, or alternatively by depositing a conductive ink or by stamping or embossing a metal film; these techniques may of course coexist in the same card, even if, to simplify fabrication, it is in practice preferable to use only one way of materializing the tracks,
the card includes an internal antenna electrically connected to the microchip(s), for example in a card of the dual interface type cited above.
The invention will be better understood in the light of the following explanations, which are given by way of illustrative and nonlimiting example and with reference to the appended drawings, in which:
The internal and external connecting areas are in practice produced by metallization.
The connection between the two intermediate internal areas is provided by a conductive track a on the bottom of the cavity (see
In the variant represented in
FIGS. 11 to 13 show a non-exhaustive selection of potential configurations of the tracks formed on (or under) the bottom of the cavity to provide satisfactory concealment of the microprocessor whilst at the same time being easily and automatically disconnected in the event of an attempt to move or to eliminate the whole or a portion of one of the tracks in order to obtain visual or optical access to the active face of the microprocessor.
An attempt to eliminate the whole or a portion of a track may consist in removing a portion of track facing a portion of the active face that is to be attacked optically. This may be achieved by applying to the track a chemical solvent, a milling machine or simply a cutter.
In
To be more precise, each track here comprises a massive portion whose overall shape is that of a right-angle isosceles triangle with a slot locally reducing the width of this track in the massive portion thereof. Here these tracks are disposed so that the summits of the massive portions are in immediate proximity (without touching each other, to prevent a short circuit). The tracks thus together form a square adapted to conceal the major portion of the microprocessor and in any event its central portion (only the corners remain uncovered, but in practice they do not include any of the important components).
Because of the slots, any attempt at intrusion via the bottom of the cavity is virtually certain to break at least one of the tracks.
The tracks therefore mask the active face at the same time as having weak points causing disconnection in the event of attempted intrusion by moving the tracks away from the masking areas.
Here the conductive tracks a, b, c, d and e are no longer deposited on the bottom of the cavity, but on the internal face of the support of the module.
As previously, these tracks are disposed and conformed to conceal the major portion of the active face of the microprocessor. As in the examples cited above, each of the tracks a, b, c and e features massive portions alternating with narrow portions, concealing a large fraction of the area of the active face and at the same time achieving a very high probability of breakage in the event of an attempt to move one of the tracks or to eliminate the whole or a portion of the track to obtain access to that active face.
In fact, a direct connection shown diagrammatically in
It goes without saying that there is a wide variety of configurations in terms of the shape and the position of the intermediate area connecting tracks. The design rules for said tracks are aimed in principle at facilitating their disconnection at the same time as maximizing their capacity to conceal visually the microprocessor.
The alternating wide and narrow sections and/or zigzag configurations may be combined, non-exhaustively, the present invention aiming above all else at the principle of visual protection of the microprocessor by conductive tracks that are disconnected easily.
There are several techniques for producing the intermediate area connecting tracks. In the case of a flip chip module, the internal and external connecting areas are advantageously photo-etched onto the film constituting the support of the module. It is similarly easy to create the connecting tracks between said intermediate connecting areas, also by photo-etching, during the same operation. Thus a single set of masks may be used and the additional cost of implementing the present invention is therefore nil or negligible compared to the cost of producing a standard module as shown in
In the case of a wire bonded module, the intermediate internal areas may also be produced by photo-etching. On the other hand, the tracks connecting these areas must be made on the bottom of the cavity, for example by embossing a metal film or by rubber stamp printing a conductive ink; in this connection see the applicant's patents EP0688051, FR-2736740, FR-2769389 and FR-2780847.
The electrical connections between the internal intermediate areas and the tracks intended to connect those areas may be provided by means of a conductive adhesive, for example, or an anisotropic adhesive. It is to be noted that these types of connection are used in the production of the dual interface cards referred to above (see also the patents FR-2716281 and DE 19647845, for example).
In the latter case, the additional cost linked to the use of conductive adhesives in accordance with the present invention disappears because said adhesives are used anyway for the electrical connections between the printed circuit and the antenna; accordingly, as is clear from
It is finally to be noted that, in the case of a wire bonded module, the present invention ensures automatic electrical disconnection of the module in the event of separation of said module from the plastics material support. This feature meets a certain security requirement, in particular in the banking and identity card fields, relating to the fact that the module must not remain functional if separated from its plastics material support.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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03/08551 | Jul 2003 | FR | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/FR04/01756 | 7/6/2004 | WO | 3/16/2006 |