Some talented people may find it possible to reverse engineer a smart card. This is a very difficult feat, so don’t think that the average person would have the equipment to pull this off. In fact, mostly large computer chip producers would have the appropriate equipment to do the delicate work and reap a large amount of benefit from it.
Reverse engineering is sometimes a delicate operation in which one person would literally take something a part to see how it works and put it back together again. Reverse engineering is a great tactic to use when you are curious to learn how something works because you want to duplicate, create documentation for it or simply learn.
In order to reverse engineer a smart card, which is a very invasive and destructive process to perform, you must make sure that you have the right equipment. First you will take the smart card one layer at a time. After each layer that has been dismantled, the engineer will take a picture of the smart card at the present state with an electron microscope.
Because most engineers are very savvy and they know that other engineers will want to dismantle their products to see how they work and if they can duplicate, the original inner workings are often cloaked and hidden. Engineers accomplish this hiding technique by mixing up memory positions and hiding keys and operations. This makes it very hard for the attacker to put the right operations in the right order to come up with blueprint plans and document them.
Sometimes it is possible to attach probes that will measure voltages of the smart card while it is still operational. This can help the attacker put the pieces together when it comes to learning how the smart card works. However, even then, some engineers use sensors to detect this and prevent this from happening.
With all of these security measures and high quality technical instruments, cracking the operational code of a smart card rarely pays off for its time and effort. If it is necessary to crack a smart card, it is always a good idea to outsource the reverse engineering to a professional company that specializes in it. They will have the expensive equipment on hand and they will take much less time to get the job done.
Reverse engineering can really be tough, especially if you are not well educated in the field. I do agree with you that outsourcing reverse engineering to a long production runprofessional company is an excellent idea. It is more efficient and economical. These prototyping manufacturer companies have engineers who are well- versed in the field. Most definitely you’ll get your money’s worth.