The Radboud Reader: A Minimal Trusted Smartcard Reader for Securing Online Transactions

Abstract

We present the design of a device for securing online transac-tions, e.g. for internet banking, which can protect against PC malware, including Man-in-the-Browser attacks. The device consists of a USB-connected smartcard reader with a small display and numeric keyboard, similar to devices currently used for internet banking. However, unlike existing devices, we rigorously stick to the design philosophy that the device should be as simple as possible; move functionality and control is moved as much as possible to the smartcard. Although this is a simple (and obvious) idea, we are not aware of any solutions pursuing it. More-over, it has some interesting benefits compared to existing solutions: the device is simpler, provides stronger security guarantees than many al-ternatives (namely that it will only display text authenticated by the smartcard), and is generic in that it can be used in combination with different smartcards for different applications (for example, for internet banking with a bank card and for filing an online tax return with a national ID card).