BS ISO/IEC 7816-4:2020

What is ISO/IEC 7816-4 about?  

ISO/IEC 7816 is a series of standards specifying integrated circuit cards and the use of such cards for interchange. These cards are identification cards used for information exchange negotiated between the outside world and the integrated circuit in the card. As a result of an information exchange, the card delivers information (computation result, stored data) and modifies its content (data storage, event memorization). 

ISO/IEC 7816-4 specifies organization, security and commands for interchange. ISO/IEC 7816-4 is independent from the physical interface technology. It applies to cards accessed by contacts, close coupling and radio frequency. 

NOTE: ISO/IEC 7816-4 does not cover the internal implementation within the card or the outside world. 

Who is ISO/IEC 7816-4 for? 

ISO/IEC 7816-4 on Identification cards is useful for: 

• Designers of ID cards 
• Manufacturing and industrial organizations involved in ID cards and badges 
• Government authorities   
• Regulatory bodies 

Why should you use ISO/IEC 7816-4?  

Identification cards (ID) have become important part of the business world and current culture, making it possible to simplify employee and visitor identification and enhance a company’s integrity and security. ID cards can improve employee-customer relationships, which helps to build rapport and accountability. 

ISO/IEC 7816-4 gives information on: 

• Contents of command-response pairs exchanged at the interface 
• Means of retrieval of data elements and data objects in the card 
• Structures and contents of historical bytes to describe operating characteristics of the card 
• Structures for applications and data in the card, as seen at the interface when processing commands 
• Access methods to files and data in the card 
• Security architecture defining access rights to files and data in the card 
• Means and mechanisms for identifying and addressing applications in the card 
• Methods for secure messaging 

ISO/IEC 7816-4 gives guidance on security status, security attributes and security mechanisms in terms of data authentication, entity authentication with passwords, which effectively prevent unwanted access, and easily identify unauthorized individuals and intruders. 

What’s changed since the last update?  

BS ISO/IEC 7816-4:2020 supersedes BS ISO/IEC 7816‑4:2013+A2:2018, which is withdrawn. BS ISO/IEC 7816-4:2020 includes some technical changes with respect to BS ISO/IEC 7816‑4:2013+A2:2018. These include: 

• Incorporation with the amendments and the corrigendum 
• Revision of unclear portions and correction of editorial mistakes