Organization certified by the international bodies who issue and manage digital certificates.

Electronic "document" used in conjunction with digital signatures to authenticate the various players, such as retailers, card bearers, buyers and issuers, in electronic commerce transactions.

Common specifications defined by Eurocard, Mastercard and Visa for smart card banking applications.

Chemical transformation of a substance by passing an electric current through it.

A smart card containing electronic funds that replace cash.

Registered trademark of Oberthur Fiduciaire. A security measure, the principle of which is to obscure a message with different-colored invisible fluorescent inks. The hidden message can only be read with an appropriate decoder (special lamp).

Filigree is a drawing or motif integrated into the substance of the paper (on a roll) during manufacture. It can be seen by holding the paper up to the light. Filigrees can be round: the wire gauze with the filigree motif is stretched around a cylinder, which rotates in a tank containing fibers and water. Flat table filigrees also exist: the filigree is obtained by pressing a filigree roll on to a sheet when the paper is being made.

Flexography is a type of three-dimensional printing where the ink is fixed on the projections of a flexible printing form before being transferred by contact with the paper. It enables the use of water- or solvent-based liquid ink.
Flexigraphic printing is used for example to apply layers of protective security varnish, layers of scratchable latex, or extra layers of ink for scratch areas.

GSM or Global Service for Mobile Communication: a pan European standard for mobile phones.

A process enabling the deposit of a certain thickness of metal by electrolysis.

A three-dimensional picture that is generally fixed by heat transfer. The terms "foil" or "patch" are also used.

Inkjet printing is a means of non-contact printing where the picture is formed by the projection of ink on the paper. The printing head generates and controls millions of tiny drops of ink. Some of them are directed onto the band of paper to form a picture and the others are captured and recycled inside the device.

Printing process using an engraved plaque. The engraver makes an actual size drawing on a soft steel plaque using engraving tools. The original matrix is hardened by soaking and then reproduced to constitute printing plates. The paper is pressed hard onto the plate to absorb the ink from the cavities. A three-dimensional touch-sensitive impression is obtained. Intaglio can be superimposed onto other forms of printing.

The card has a magnetic stripe that contains a limited quantity of information entered when the card was initialized (during manufacture), which cannot be modified.

The memory card stores information in a chip that does not have an integrated microprocessor. It does not manage data, and only a card reader can modify information contained in the chip. Memory cards are used to store values that decrease as the card is used.

A microprocessor assembles all the organs needed to handle binary information on a single substrate. It consists of an access to the outside world (address bus and data bus), a sequencing unit, and an arithmetic and logic unit which does the actual processing. It communicates with the outside party which provides the data to be processed and indicates how to process them (program), and where the results should be sent.

Offset printing is the reproduction of a picture using a rubber roll and a photoengraved plaque. The purpose of the plaque is to retain a liquid film on the "negative" parts, which are not printed, and to retain the printing ink on the "positive" parts, which are printed (damp offset). The plaque is obtained by using a "positive" transparent film. The plaque is molded by rolling it round a special cylinder.

The operating system or "mask" is inscribed during chip manufacture. It handles exchange protocol, controls memory access and offers access to data and cryptography tools.

PKI or Public Key Infrastructure. Enables users of unsecured networks to safely and confidentially exchange data using a public encryption key that is issued by a certifying authority. This standard uses digital certificates that can identify individuals and a filing system that registers and cancels them.

A manufacturing procedure whereby the customer's particular data is integrated into the product (loaded into a smart card, printed on a check book, etc.).

A technique used to take printing shots using photographic processes.

This is the basic reference validated by the client. It generally comes in the form of a previously made sample.

In an asymmetrical (public) key encoding system, this is the key known only to the issuing body; it is not made public.

Document giving an idea of the industrial end-product by reproducing the final printing result and enabling perfect reproduction on an industrial scale.

In an asymmetrical (public) key encoding system, this is the key that is publicly known.

SIM or Subscriber Identification Module. A smart card inserted in a mobile GSM device enabling individual security authentification of a network subscriber.

Security element included when manufacturing paper.

Non-metal with a density of 2.35; semi-conductor. Element (Si) discovered by Jöns Jacob Berzelius in 1817 in silica (sandstone) commonly found in the form of silica or silicates and represents 28% of the earth's crust.

Silkscreen printing uses tyxotropical ink (increases its fluidity through pressure), which, by means of a scraper, is pushed through a taut, regular-mesh canvas, on which the parts to be printed are reproduced by blocking out certain parts. The screen is made from a positive film. The canvas is completely coated with photosensitive resin that is eliminated from the areas to be printed by photoengraving. .

The microprocessor equipped with a chip containing a microprocessor with different functions (data transfer, storage and processing).

A printing technique in which the engraver etches a mirror image of the drawing on a block of steel using a stylus. This matrix is then soaked to harden it and render it permanent. A print of the matrix is taken using a "flong", a rather soft composite material that becomes hard when heat cast. The flong is then placed in a mould into which a mixture of lead, pewter and antimony is poured. Duplicates of the matrix are then obtained. The cast is covered with a copper shell by galvanoplasty in order to consolidate it. In flat printing, the electro is fixed horizontally to the press and inked. The ink deposit is transferred from the electro to the sheet using a cylinder that prevents the sheet to be printed from moving and presses strongly on it. In rotary typography printing, the electros are belted and screwed on to a cylinder in the machine to print one or two sheets at a time, depending on the print format and the diameter of the cylinder.

UMTS or Universal Mobile Telecommunications System. A new generation of cordless telephony that will enable data transmission of up to 1 Mbits/s.

WAP or Wireless Application Protocol. A standard enabling Internet data to be adapted for mobile phones.

WIM or WAP Identity Module. A WAP identity module. A SIM smart card based on WAP technology.

A disk of polished silicon containing hundreds of chips, each with millions of transistors.

A white room is a strictly controlled environment in which a cubic meter of air should not contain more than thirty-five particles of dust as opposed to the 500 million particles found in an ordinary space.