Similarity of smart cards based on their performance

The actual performance of tested card when executing required algorithm can be used as useful side-channel for fingerprinting purposes.


Using performance results for many cards, we calculated how much individual pairs of cards differ in the performance of selected important operations (so-called TOP FUNCTIONS).

Each cell in the table represents the (di-) similarity of two cards. A value close to 100% means that these two cards are very similar, whereas going to 0% mean significant dissimilarity. When a cursor is placed above value, tooltip showing difference in supported algorithms of exact two cards appears.

From the practical experience, we can say that pair of cards with similarity value over 95% means either the identical card type or both being members of the same product family with same underlying hardware and very similar implementation of JavaCard Virtual Machine. The similarity in the range of 85% - 95% usually signals the same family of cards yet with detectable differences (possibly different co-processor for some of the supported algorithms). The global average is about 70%, with similarity below 50% encountered for cards from completely different manufacturers.


Why does it work?

In contrast to ordinary computers, smart cards are on one side more deterministic (usually, no processes running in parallel) yet more specialized on the hardware level. There is not "just" single general purpose CPU running compiled cryptographic algorithm, but a set of specialized circuits dedicated to the acceleration of particular cryptographic algorithm (DES, AES, RSA, ECC co-processor), all optimized for the maximum speed and minimum die space. Performance measurements of cryptographic algorithms can be therefore used as a card's fingerprint which cannot be easily manipulated on the higher software level. For example, one cannot re-implement faster RSA on the card's main CPU to mimic the speed of another card. The fastest achievable modular multiplication, on that particular card, is given by the performance of card's co-processor circuit and cannot be improved by the main CPU.


Higher percentage = more similar Athena_IDProtect G+D Smartcafe 3.2 72K G+D Smartcafe 6.0 80K G+D Smartcafe Expert 4.x V2 Gemplus GXP R4 72K JavaCOS A22 CR-ECC-SHA-2 JavaCOS A22 NXP J2D081 80K NXP J3A080 J3H081 EMV NXP JCOP21 v2.4.2R3 NXP JCOP31 v2.4.1 72K NXP JCOP41 v2.2.1 72K NXP JCOP 21 V2.2 36K NXP JCOP 31 V2.2 36K Oberthur ID-ONE Cosmo 64 RSA v5.4 Softlock SLCOS InfineonSLE78 Feitian JavaCOS 3.0.4 e2 NXP 2.4.1 R3 NXP CJ2A081 NXP JCOP4 P71D321 SECORA ID X Feitian JavaSD NXP J3H145 RSA4096 NXP J3H145 RSA4096 enabled SCP03 SECORA ID S (SCP02 with RSA2k JC305 GP230) Infineon SECORA ID X Batch 16072021 SALES Infineon SPA1-1 ThothTrust Edition JC30M48CR NXP JCOP3 J3H145g P60 G+D SmartCafe 7.0 215K USB Token S Infineon CJTOP 80K INF SLJ 52GLA080AL M8.4 JavaCOS A20 JavaCOS A22 CR JavaCOS A40 JavaCOS JC10M24R NXP J2A080 80K NXP J2E081 NXP J3A081 JCOP v2.4.1 NXP JCOP CJ2A081 NXP JCOP4 J3R180 SECID P71 Taisys SIMoME VAULT
Athena_IDProtect 65.81 81.08 64.56 65.30 77.58 67.88 86.53 77.43 85.10 83.89 76.49 81.95 81.65 81.87 35.68 68.90 78.20 71.48 71.52 58.40 36.59 78.55 85.48 63.24 46.25 49.27 52.78 71.55 65.01 66.94 69.24 69.60 74.97 78.79 81.56 64.18 72.05 72.23 73.05 58.16 66.93
G+D Smartcafe 3.2 72K 65.81 65.93 66.39 68.24 62.93 53.91 69.32 83.09 58.65 68.58 80.54 76.06 74.55 74.00 50.79 61.42 60.69 59.95 60.06 51.73 46.59 61.12 46.63 52.15 52.35 53.83 47.40 57.50 56.98 55.64 64.43 57.79 61.78 60.12 61.92 60.95 60.63 61.56 62.06 51.57 49.28
G+D Smartcafe 6.0 80K 81.08 65.93 61.27 64.77 85.39 82.37 88.07 82.52 76.06 81.27 83.87 87.35 83.41 83.47 47.22 82.60 84.60 70.05 70.33 77.64 70.28 85.39 86.73 59.60 72.87 62.13 69.26 82.87 84.20 82.56 85.36 82.86 84.27 84.54 86.87 56.66 71.46 71.71 73.43 77.47 70.93
G+D Smartcafe Expert 4.x V2 64.56 66.39 61.27 53.56 59.03 57.83 65.54 70.02 53.95 64.20 71.03 68.12 65.60 65.38 38.41 66.76 58.34 61.12 61.18 61.73 54.42 58.57 37.23 53.26 57.10 52.17 54.05 64.43 62.83 63.39 65.30 63.41 64.21 58.45 59.25 61.95 64.42 64.16 64.07 61.81 68.53
Gemplus GXP R4 72K 65.30 68.24 64.77 53.56 81.87 54.33 69.76 70.92 76.52 68.45 71.47 67.26 65.72 65.84 46.35 57.03 81.86 62.93 63.00 54.44 46.04 81.87 83.57 48.48 48.75 43.39 45.91 57.63 66.39 56.54 61.93 57.59 70.49 82.21 82.88 57.46 63.34 63.40 64.17 54.37 54.13
JavaCOS A22 CR-ECC-SHA-2 77.58 62.93 85.39 59.03 81.87 98.59 79.41 76.73 69.95 69.75 82.38 83.43 76.48 76.56 37.51 83.86 95.40 63.32 63.60 88.70 88.52 94.58 86.75 50.20 80.09 59.05 74.23 90.86 87.35 89.75 77.81 91.27 95.82 95.01 91.74 48.08 64.77 62.69 64.30 88.77 53.08
JavaCOS A22 67.88 53.91 82.37 57.83 54.33 98.59 73.78 72.34 65.69 66.94 76.79 76.77 72.11 72.14 34.36 88.59 98.51 61.02 61.34 90.97 78.78 96.72 88.21 50.17 78.03 58.05 72.35 93.46 89.10 91.76 83.91 99.12 91.72 96.35 91.75 47.55 65.14 63.16 64.74 90.93 60.64
NXP J2D081 80K 86.53 69.32 88.07 65.54 69.76 79.41 73.78 82.88 89.72 91.65 80.86 91.43 91.72 92.04 41.44 76.37 79.66 69.20 69.41 73.07 67.42 80.12 94.74 72.01 71.40 65.01 69.68 77.47 80.39 77.97 74.93 75.12 79.66 80.20 83.93 57.03 68.48 70.59 72.16 72.93 78.40
NXP J3A080 77.43 83.09 82.52 70.02 70.92 76.73 72.34 82.88 74.46 80.08 92.18 92.14 89.12 88.58 47.93 80.32 74.90 70.46 70.64 71.76 65.47 75.52 70.66 62.88 71.42 65.86 66.70 75.90 78.03 74.02 79.15 74.71 76.25 74.67 77.06 64.28 70.19 71.53 72.54 71.68 68.59
J3H081 EMV 85.10 58.65 76.06 53.95 76.52 69.95 65.69 89.72 74.46 93.48 69.92 85.58 90.13 90.89 37.53 73.33 70.31 65.00 65.19 74.02 78.45 70.90 98.71 79.19 88.90 74.39 93.72 73.93 79.79 74.99 67.68 68.60 71.09 70.97 74.45 48.80 59.99 64.36 66.02 73.77 92.10
NXP JCOP21 v2.4.2R3 83.89 68.58 81.27 64.20 68.45 69.75 66.94 91.65 80.08 93.48 75.41 86.32 91.22 91.65 42.06 71.94 69.67 67.73 67.87 67.58 63.40 70.24 92.77 79.04 68.89 66.50 68.43 71.71 74.68 71.13 71.14 69.03 72.54 70.10 74.07 57.21 65.47 69.29 70.75 67.40 81.38
NXP JCOP31 v2.4.1 72K 76.49 80.54 83.87 71.03 71.47 82.38 76.79 80.86 92.18 69.92 75.41 90.90 85.14 84.71 46.41 81.76 80.45 70.14 70.35 74.73 67.00 80.87 72.36 56.78 70.23 61.51 64.92 78.92 80.23 77.42 80.86 78.58 80.75 80.08 81.17 63.34 71.84 71.26 72.25 74.72 61.54
NXP JCOP41 v2.2.1 72K 81.95 76.06 87.35 68.12 67.26 83.43 76.77 91.43 92.14 85.58 86.32 90.90 92.95 92.68 46.39 81.69 82.64 75.77 75.89 78.09 66.22 83.97 87.34 74.92 71.99 63.46 68.29 83.01 88.07 81.69 77.77 79.37 83.30 83.18 89.56 70.64 76.29 77.26 78.18 78.22 83.22
NXP JCOP 21 V2.2 36K 81.65 74.55 83.41 65.60 65.72 76.48 72.11 91.72 89.12 90.13 91.22 85.14 92.95 99.32 46.27 79.22 75.89 73.68 73.77 75.05 64.86 76.80 88.14 80.83 71.93 65.32 69.06 80.86 83.54 77.31 74.85 75.38 78.29 76.29 83.83 69.20 73.55 75.50 76.92 75.10 89.83
NXP JCOP 31 V2.2 36K 81.87 74.00 83.47 65.38 65.84 76.56 72.14 92.04 88.58 90.89 91.65 84.71 92.68 99.32 45.92 78.91 76.04 73.63 73.72 75.11 64.97 76.83 89.12 81.10 72.09 65.26 69.24 80.93 83.72 77.36 74.55 75.34 78.30 76.40 84.01 68.99 73.50 75.47 76.92 75.16 90.55
Oberthur ID-ONE Cosmo 64 RSA v5.4 35.68 50.79 47.22 38.41 46.35 37.51 34.36 41.44 47.93 37.53 42.06 46.41 46.39 46.27 45.92 34.67 33.92 41.11 41.05 24.68 13.51 39.28 82.93 39.03 17.65 16.86 15.23 28.61 30.77 30.80 41.74 31.45 33.60 35.72 37.47 39.88 37.00 37.77 38.00 24.59 40.38
Softlock SLCOS InfineonSLE78 68.90 61.42 82.60 66.76 57.03 83.86 88.59 76.37 80.32 73.33 71.94 81.76 81.69 79.22 78.91 34.67 81.20 66.12 66.35 84.75 59.23 83.82 83.81 61.84 70.30 60.61 72.30 87.10 86.81 84.74 85.49 86.26 84.74 82.33 84.14 54.05 67.59 67.41 68.70 84.57 60.87
Feitian JavaCOS 3.0.4 e2 78.20 60.69 84.60 58.34 81.86 95.40 98.51 79.66 74.90 70.31 69.67 80.45 82.64 75.89 76.04 33.92 81.20 63.01 63.30 91.38 89.83 94.45 89.58 50.10 79.85 57.63 74.53 92.41 88.66 92.20 74.68 90.14 96.67 97.39 93.14 47.08 64.53 62.35 64.04 91.56 53.45
NXP 2.4.1 R3 71.48 59.95 70.05 61.12 62.93 63.32 61.02 69.20 70.46 65.00 67.73 70.14 75.77 73.68 73.63 41.11 66.12 63.01 99.65 65.25 45.30 63.77 55.00 59.46 54.75 54.82 61.56 66.09 70.63 70.02 73.71 64.69 65.03 63.35 64.08 73.51 92.36 99.34 97.62 65.02 63.36
NXP CJ2A081 71.52 60.06 70.33 61.18 63.00 63.60 61.34 69.41 70.64 65.19 67.87 70.35 75.89 73.77 73.72 41.05 66.35 63.30 99.65 65.56 45.53 64.05 55.38 59.58 54.99 54.96 61.80 66.37 70.94 70.32 73.81 64.94 65.31 63.65 64.37 73.26 92.37 99.09 97.74 65.34 63.27
NXP JCOP4 P71D321 58.40 51.73 77.64 61.73 54.44 88.70 90.97 73.07 71.76 74.02 67.58 74.73 78.09 75.05 75.11 24.68 84.75 91.38 65.25 65.56 64.94 90.56 95.41 61.66 75.06 59.93 76.97 91.77 89.93 90.68 69.65 87.37 87.66 93.05 92.50 44.74 65.78 66.01 67.43 99.36 55.62
SECORA ID X 36.59 46.59 70.28 54.42 46.04 88.52 78.78 67.42 65.47 78.45 63.40 67.00 66.22 64.86 64.97 13.51 59.23 89.83 45.30 45.53 64.94 89.84 94.24 43.64 84.04 67.69 75.89 81.61 58.28 58.37 46.47 78.45 73.30 90.99 93.39 22.09 42.95 44.38 45.43 64.88 15.48
Feitian JavaSD 78.55 61.12 85.39 58.57 81.87 94.58 96.72 80.12 75.52 70.90 70.24 80.87 83.97 76.80 76.83 39.28 83.82 94.45 63.77 64.05 90.56 89.84 92.06 50.84 79.73 58.31 74.89 91.30 89.42 91.81 78.34 93.88 96.91 95.45 92.79 47.76 65.15 63.10 64.77 90.70 54.52
NXP J3H145 RSA4096 85.48 46.63 86.73 37.23 83.57 86.75 88.21 94.74 70.66 98.71 92.77 72.36 87.34 88.14 89.12 82.93 83.81 89.58 55.00 55.38 95.41 94.24 92.06 99.48 94.43 67.68 94.27 92.38 99.84 96.20 79.74 87.37 91.99 92.08 93.46 30.41 53.77 53.98 56.52 95.26 96.07
NXP J3H145 RSA4096 enabled SCP03 63.24 52.15 59.60 53.26 48.48 50.20 50.17 72.01 62.88 79.19 79.04 56.78 74.92 80.83 81.10 39.03 61.84 50.10 59.46 59.58 61.66 43.64 50.84 99.48 59.23 63.43 69.75 58.58 65.45 62.51 58.04 54.69 54.42 50.64 54.13 45.13 54.55 60.09 61.00 61.40 68.43
SECORA ID S (SCP02 with RSA2k JC305 GP230) 46.25 52.35 72.87 57.10 48.75 80.09 78.03 71.40 71.42 88.90 68.89 70.23 71.99 71.93 72.09 17.65 70.30 79.85 54.75 54.99 75.06 84.04 79.73 94.43 59.23 76.61 89.94 81.72 69.99 68.74 55.73 77.94 73.44 80.13 83.53 31.81 51.62 54.29 55.50 74.93 33.24
Infineon SECORA ID X Batch 16072021 SALES 49.27 53.83 62.13 52.17 43.39 59.05 58.05 65.01 65.86 74.39 66.50 61.51 63.46 65.32 65.26 16.86 60.61 57.63 54.82 54.96 59.93 67.69 58.31 67.68 63.43 76.61 77.57 63.24 59.29 57.75 53.50 60.71 55.89 57.68 61.10 35.84 48.78 52.57 53.37 59.61 31.40
Infineon SPA1-1 ThothTrust Edition 52.78 47.40 69.26 54.05 45.91 74.23 72.35 69.68 66.70 93.72 68.43 64.92 68.29 69.06 69.24 15.23 72.30 74.53 61.56 61.80 76.97 75.89 74.89 94.27 69.75 89.94 77.57 76.83 74.21 74.33 59.59 72.97 68.62 75.11 78.55 37.76 56.09 59.20 60.42 76.70 45.59
JC30M48CR 71.55 57.50 82.87 64.43 57.63 90.86 93.46 77.47 75.90 73.93 71.71 78.92 83.01 80.86 80.93 28.61 87.10 92.41 66.09 66.37 91.77 81.61 91.30 92.38 58.58 81.72 63.24 76.83 92.00 93.19 79.12 90.13 90.17 92.61 97.71 52.91 68.62 67.33 69.09 91.75 66.08
NXP JCOP3 J3H145g P60 65.01 56.98 84.20 62.83 66.39 87.35 89.10 80.39 78.03 79.79 74.68 80.23 88.07 83.54 83.72 30.77 86.81 88.66 70.63 70.94 89.93 58.28 89.42 99.84 65.45 69.99 59.29 74.21 92.00 94.08 75.86 87.42 89.96 90.04 92.16 49.99 70.14 70.84 72.39 89.73 64.49
G+D SmartCafe 7.0 215K USB Token S 66.94 55.64 82.56 63.39 56.54 89.75 91.76 77.97 74.02 74.99 71.13 77.42 81.69 77.31 77.36 30.80 84.74 92.20 70.02 70.32 90.68 58.37 91.81 96.20 62.51 68.74 57.75 74.33 93.19 94.08 74.32 88.32 90.97 93.72 93.60 49.22 69.78 69.45 70.95 90.54 60.50
Infineon CJTOP 80K INF SLJ 52GLA080AL M8.4 69.24 64.43 85.36 65.30 61.93 77.81 83.91 74.93 79.15 67.68 71.14 80.86 77.77 74.85 74.55 41.74 85.49 74.68 73.71 73.81 69.65 46.47 78.34 79.74 58.04 55.73 53.50 59.59 79.12 75.86 74.32 81.57 81.34 75.72 76.15 64.28 75.95 74.75 75.33 69.46 61.49
JavaCOS A20 69.60 57.79 82.86 63.41 57.59 91.27 99.12 75.12 74.71 68.60 69.03 78.58 79.37 75.38 75.34 31.45 86.26 90.14 64.69 64.94 87.37 78.45 93.88 87.37 54.69 77.94 60.71 72.97 90.13 87.42 88.32 81.57 90.13 89.94 88.29 52.60 67.85 66.12 67.48 87.40 62.62
JavaCOS A22 CR 74.97 61.78 84.27 64.21 70.49 95.82 91.72 79.66 76.25 71.09 72.54 80.75 83.30 78.29 78.30 33.60 84.74 96.67 65.03 65.31 87.66 73.30 96.91 91.99 54.42 73.44 55.89 68.62 90.17 89.96 90.97 81.34 90.13 98.15 93.84 52.44 68.68 66.81 68.31 87.86 60.36
JavaCOS A40 78.79 60.12 84.54 58.45 82.21 95.01 96.35 80.20 74.67 70.97 70.10 80.08 83.18 76.29 76.40 35.72 82.33 97.39 63.35 63.65 93.05 90.99 95.45 92.08 50.64 80.13 57.68 75.11 92.61 90.04 93.72 75.72 89.94 98.15 93.84 47.07 64.81 62.69 64.38 93.26 54.11
JavaCOS JC10M24R 81.56 61.92 86.87 59.25 82.88 91.74 91.75 83.93 77.06 74.45 74.07 81.17 89.56 83.83 84.01 37.47 84.14 93.14 64.08 64.37 92.50 93.39 92.79 93.46 54.13 83.53 61.10 78.55 97.71 92.16 93.60 76.15 88.29 93.84 93.84 47.76 64.87 63.40 65.43 92.55 59.03
NXP J2A080 80K 64.18 60.95 56.66 61.95 57.46 48.08 47.55 57.03 64.28 48.80 57.21 63.34 70.64 69.20 68.99 39.88 54.05 47.08 73.51 73.26 44.74 22.09 47.76 30.41 45.13 31.81 35.84 37.76 52.91 49.99 49.22 64.28 52.60 52.44 47.07 47.76 75.41 74.96 73.71 44.55 70.87
NXP J2E081 72.05 60.63 71.46 64.42 63.34 64.77 65.14 68.48 70.19 59.99 65.47 71.84 76.29 73.55 73.50 37.00 67.59 64.53 92.36 92.37 65.78 42.95 65.15 53.77 54.55 51.62 48.78 56.09 68.62 70.14 69.78 75.95 67.85 68.68 64.81 64.87 75.41 92.81 92.59 65.66 59.92
NXP J3A081 JCOP v2.4.1 72.23 61.56 71.71 64.16 63.40 62.69 63.16 70.59 71.53 64.36 69.29 71.26 77.26 75.50 75.47 37.77 67.41 62.35 99.34 99.09 66.01 44.38 63.10 53.98 60.09 54.29 52.57 59.20 67.33 70.84 69.45 74.75 66.12 66.81 62.69 63.40 74.96 92.81 97.43 65.86 65.23
NXP JCOP CJ2A081 73.05 62.06 73.43 64.07 64.17 64.30 64.74 72.16 72.54 66.02 70.75 72.25 78.18 76.92 76.92 38.00 68.70 64.04 97.62 97.74 67.43 45.43 64.77 56.52 61.00 55.50 53.37 60.42 69.09 72.39 70.95 75.33 67.48 68.31 64.38 65.43 73.71 92.59 97.43 67.28 65.16
NXP JCOP4 J3R180 SECID P71 58.16 51.57 77.47 61.81 54.37 88.77 90.93 72.93 71.68 73.77 67.40 74.72 78.22 75.10 75.16 24.59 84.57 91.56 65.02 65.34 99.36 64.88 90.70 95.26 61.40 74.93 59.61 76.70 91.75 89.73 90.54 69.46 87.40 87.86 93.26 92.55 44.55 65.66 65.86 67.28 55.35
Taisys SIMoME VAULT 66.93 49.28 70.93 68.53 54.13 53.08 60.64 78.40 68.59 92.10 81.38 61.54 83.22 89.83 90.55 40.38 60.87 53.45 63.36 63.27 55.62 15.48 54.52 96.07 68.43 33.24 31.40 45.59 66.08 64.49 60.50 61.49 62.62 60.36 54.11 59.03 70.87 59.92 65.23 65.16 55.35