Patent Application
20070016963
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a PIN (personal identification number) entry terminal having a security system, and more particularly, to a security system for a PIN entry terminal to prevent any intrusion.
2. Description of the Related Art
Point of Sale (POS) terminals of the type typically used by merchants permit holders of charge cards, credit cards, debit cards, and the like to make electronic payments for services and merchandise quickly and easily. With the advent of stored value cards and other smart card schemes, the use of POS terminals in some form is likely to increase dramatically over the next few decades. Indeed, as the feature set of POS terminals and associated peripheral devices such as PIN entry devices/terminals increases, the use of POS terminals may largely supplant or even replace the use of cash and checks in many contexts.
All of the transactions that require the entry of a PIN necessitate that the PIN itself and any data associated with the PIN be secure and remain secure. As such, PIN entry devices utilize encryption in the form of keys to accomplish security. Additionally, PIN entry devices are designed to be tamper resistant security modules.
In order to provide a tamper resistant security module, PIN entry devices are sealed. If and when a PIN entry device is opened, all of the secure data is erased. Accordingly, a security system for electronic circuits contained within a secure POS terminal has been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,646,565, as shown in
If the security fence module 13 is penetrated, a security response is triggered, deleting any confidential information contained within the security POS terminal 10. That is, when either the system board 12 or the display board 11 is disconnected from the security film connector 132 and the security film 131 is interrupted, the tamper detection circuit is promptly triggered.
However, the security film 131 is likely to be partially unwrapped or lifted so that an intruder can attempt to drill through the security shell 135 to disable the tamper detection circuit. Apparently, such POS terminal 10 cannot completely prevent unauthorized access to the circuitry within its interior. On the other hand, the security film 131, like a flexible circuit board, has the undesirable effect of increasing the production cost.
As a result, there is a need for a less expensive, more secure technique for preventing unauthorized access to the circuitry within a PIN entry terminal.
An objective of the present invention is to provide a PIN entry terminal having a security system that is both more tamper resistant and less expensive than the prior art employing a flexible circuit board. Four tamper resistant boards enclosing a main board achieve this. A tamper detection circuit is through a plurality of soldering joints between the tamper resistant boards and the main board. If any tamper resistant boards are tampered with or any soldering joints are broken, the tamper detection circuit is also triggered by an interruption in the electrical connection.
To achieve the objective, the present invention discloses a PIN entry terminal having a security system. The PIN entry terminal comprises an interface board, tamper resistant boards and a main board. The tamper resistant boards tightly enclose the main board and are arranged like walls. There is a plurality of solder joints between each adjacent two of the tamper resistant boards and the main board. Furthermore, an electrical connector electrically connects and is placed between the interface board and the main board. A tamper detection circuit through the solder joints and the electrical connector is provided in part on the tamper resistant boards, in part on the interface board and in part on the main board. If either the interface board or the main board is disconnected from the electrical connector or one of the tamper resistant boards is tampered with, the tamper detection circuit is triggered.
The invention will be described according to the appended drawings in which:
FIGS. 6(a)-6(e) are plane views especially showing soldering pads of the tamper resistant boards and the main board; and
After disassembly, the keypad 21, a main board 24, tamper resistant boards 251-254, a partition 26, tamper switches 281 and an interface board 27 are clearly exposed in
Furthermore, the partition 26 can be replaced by a plurality of short columns separately inserted between the tamper switches 281 and the main board 24.
Similarly, there are several tamper switches 282 provided on the main board 24 to prevent the keypad 21 from being stealthily pried open.
Referring to FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b), an electrical connector including a male connector 421 and a female connector 422 electrically connects and is placed between the main board 24 and the interface board 27. If either the main board 24 or the interface board 27 is disconnected from the electrical connector or one of the tamper resistant boards 251-254 is tampered with, the tamper detection circuit is also triggered.
As shown in FIGS. 6(a)-6(e), there is a plurality of pairs of solder pads for the solder joints 41 to solder them together. The solder pads 2511, 2521, 2531 and 2541 are separately joined to the solder pads 241, 242, 243 and 244 by soldering. Furthermore, each adjacent two of the solder pads 2514, 2524, 2534 and 2544 are soldered together to form a portion of the circuit loop sequentially through the tamper resistant boards 251-254. The secure circuit loop powered by either the power supply of the automatic transaction machine or a backup battery set serially connects all the solder pads. Grounded pads 2513, 2523, 2533 and 2543 are also looped together by soldering as a grounded loop which is connected to ground. If the intruder injects an electrically conductive substance into the clearance between the tamper resistant boards 251-254 to bridge two lead wires of the secure circuit loop, the conductive substance will overlay one of the grounded pads 2513, 2523, 2533 and 2543 first and short-circuit the secure circuit loop with the grounded loop. When the short occurs, the accordingly secure response is immediately made.
The above-described embodiments of the present invention are intended to be illustrative only. Numerous alternative embodiments may be devised by persons skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the following claims.
