ACS introduces new ACOS5-64 and CryptoMate64 cryptographic smart cards for seamless smart card security

HONG KONG, 6 February, 2012 – Advanced Card Systems Ltd. (ACS, wholly owned subsidiary of Advanced Card Systems Holdings Ltd., SEHK: 8210), Asia Pacific’s number 1 supplier and one of the world’s top 3 suppliers of PC-linked smart card readers (Source: Frost & Sullivan), introduces two new smart card products that raised the bar in providing topnotch security for smart card applications. Belonging to ACS’s Smart Card and Card Operating Systems Product line, ACOS5-64 and CryptoMate64 combine smart card and cryptographic functions to support advanced security features such as Smart Card Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and Digital Signature.

An upgraded version of the ACOS5 smart card, ACOS5-64 is an advanced cryptographic smart card that complies with ISO7816-1/2/3/4/8/9 and common criteria EAL5+ (chip level) specifications. Designed to enhance the security and performance of RSA Public-key cryptographic operations, ACOS5-64 supports applications requiring high level security, including Secure Digital Email Signing, Network Security and Encryption. Further, it facilitates cost effective implementation as it allows multiple secure PKI applications to be stored in just one card.

The USB token version of ACOS5-64, CryptoMate64, which is likewise an upgrade to a previous device called CryptoMate, houses a built-in ACOS5-64 Smart Card IC where cryptographic operations are performed rather than in the PC or terminal, eliminating the threat of hacking and sniffing of confidential data. It utilizes industry standard algorithms, such as RSA (up to 4096 bits), SHA-1, SHA-256, AES-128 / 192 / 256 and 3K 3DES. Despite its portable and lightweight design, CryptoMate64 provides one of the strongest authentication solutions in the market.

Users who have experienced the quality of security provided by the old ACOS5 cards and CryptoMate will be pleased to know that these two new products offer something even better. Increased EEPROM size for faster performance, longer RSA keys for added cryptographic strength, and faster transmission rates are only some of the major enhancements boasted by both ACOS5-64 and CryptoMate64. Below is a table showing the respective technical specifications of ACOS5-64 and CryptoMate64 versus their predecessors:

 

	ACOS5/ CryptoMate	ACOS5-64/ CryptoMate64
High-Speed Support	Up to 115,200 bps	Up to 223,2000 bps
3DES Key Length	16 Byte	16, 24 Byte
AES Support	AES-128	AES-128, AES-192, AES-256
SHA Support	SHA-1	SHA-1, SHA-256
Purse Application	Not Supported	Supported
Memory Space	32 KByte	64 KByte
RSA Operand Length	RSA-512, 1024, 2048	RSA-512, 1024, 2048, 2304, 2560, 2816, 3072, 3328, 3584, 3840, 4096

With the help of ACS’s newly developed smart card mini-driver, which is automatically will be downloaded automatically upon insertion of the devices to the PC, both ACOS5-64 and CryptoMate64 can easily be used in the latest Windows environments. CSP/ PKCS#11 middleware is also available to support running applications running on Windows and Linux Operation Operating Systems.

About ACS

Advanced Card Systems Ltd. (ACS, wholly owned subsidiary of Advanced Card Systems Holdings Ltd., SEHK: 8210), founded in 1995, is Asia Pacific’s top supplier and one of the world’s top 3 suppliers of PC-linked smart card readers, as well as the winner of the Product Quality Leadership Award for Smart Card Readers from Frost & Sullivan. One of the companies on Forbes Asia’s 2010 “Best Under a Billion” list, a prestigious list of 200 top-performing companies with sales between US$5 million and US$1 billion, selected from 12,930 publicly listed enterprises in Asia Pacific, ACS develops a wide range of high quality smart card reading/writing devices, smart cards and related products and distributes them to over 100 countries worldwide. Visit ACS at https://www.acs.com.hk/ .