Overview
ISO/IEC 24727-3:2008/Amd 1:2014 is an amendment to Part 3 of the ISO/IEC 24727 family – the Application Interface for integrated circuit card (smart card) programming interfaces. This Amendment strengthens interoperability by adding XML and web‑service bindings, improving discovery and registry mechanisms (including ISO/IEC 7816‑15 usage), and clarifying connection/security handling for Service Access Layer (SAL) communications. It reaffirms ASN.1 as the canonical API/data definition while providing normative XML, WSDL and language bindings to support modern networked Identity, Authentication and Signature (IAS) environments.
Key technical topics and requirements
- ASN.1 first, XML derived: ASN.1 remains the central definition; XML and other bindings are derived from ASN.1 to ensure consistency.
- Web services bindings: normative support for SOAP and PAOS bindings, with WSDL definitions for SAL functions and protocols.
- Security / connection handling:
- TLS required (per RFC 4346) for SAL communications.
- Use of X.509 certificates for public servers; private keys must be protected.
- Anonymous TLS suites (e.g., TLS_DH_anon, TLS_ECDH_anon) may be used only with additional operational safeguards.
- Application-level communication context (ContextHandle / ConnectionHandle) must be exclusively bound to the established TLS channel.
- One TLS channel can service SAL↔IFD communications; each card application connection requires its own TLS channel.
- XML CardInfo structure for legacy cards:
- Defines a CardInfo XML schema to describe card profiles and map generic SAL calls to card-specific APDUs when cards lack on‑card CIA/CCD structures.
- Elements include CardType, CardIdentification, CardCapabilities, ApplicationCapabilities and optional digital signatures for integrity.
- Authentication protocol XML bindings: annexes provide XML encodings for common operations (PIN compare, mutual authentication, RSA auth, digital signatures, M‑EAC).
- Language bindings and lifecycle: C (normative) and Java (informative) bindings included; Amendment adds ISO/IEC 7816‑13 application management and lifecycle concepts.
- Registry & discovery enhancements: better linkage between SAL entities and on‑card entities; mechanisms to indicate whether messages use ASN.1 or XML.
Practical applications and who uses it
- System architects and middleware developers building smart‑card enabled identity, authentication and digital-signature services.
- Card manufacturers and issuers needing standardized profiles for legacy cards and interoperability with service infrastructures.
- Integrators of e‑government, banking, healthcare and enterprise access control systems that rely on smart cards and federated identity protocols (e.g., SAML, OpenID).
- Developers implementing web‑service based card middleware (SOAP/PAOS) who require WSDL/XSD bindings and secure TLS connection patterns.
Related standards and references
Keywords: ISO/IEC 24727-3:2008/Amd 1:2014, integrated circuit card, application interface, smart card middleware, Service Access Layer, ASN.1, XML binding, CardInfo, WSDL, SOAP, PAOS, TLS, X.509, legacy cards, authentication protocols.