What is Mifare?

Mifare is a 13.56 MHz contactless technology owned by Philips. It complies with ISO14443A - the industry standard for contactless smart cards. Mifare cards are powered by an internal antenna as the card moves into a magnetic field. Mifare has proven popular as the card to use in ticketing and low value transactions.

What are the physical characteristics of a Mifare card?

operating frequency: 13.56 MHz.
read range: from about 0cm up to 10 cm.
card size: approx. 85.7mm x 54.0mm x 0.8mm.
data capacity: a standard 1K Mifare card has 16 sectors each with 4 blocks of data that are 16 bytes. Other capacities are available.

How secure is the data on a Mifare card?

the radio transmission between the Mifare chip and the reader is encrypted.
each sector can have its own 48 bit keys for read and write access, this allows multiple applications from different vendors to operate on the same card.
access to data from each sector is protected with a 48 bit key.
the actual data stored on the card can be either encrypted or not encrypted.
each sector can be read only.

What are the benefits of a Mifare card?

advantages:

the card can be used for multiple applications.
secure encryption prevents unauthorised access to information stored on the card. This makes it extremely difficult to copy a Mifare card.
being contactless, there is reduced maintenance required for card readers as well as less wear and tear on the cards.
the Mifare chip can be embedded in alternatives to cards; such as fobs or watches.
Mifare cards do not need to be inserted into a reader, instead they only need to be presented within the range of the card reader. This will allow read and write operations to be performed.
each card has it's own unique card serial number.
can be used in a wet environment as card reader card be sealed.

What is Mifare card and what are my options?

Mifare® cards are designed for convenient, fast transactions. The cardholder does not need to stop at the card reader for the card to be read. This high-speed processing allows for high throughput at gates, boarding areas, and toll booths. Mifare cards can even remain in a wallet or purse during the transaction.

Mifare cards are compatible with existing Mifare infrastructures. The cards are available in 100% PVC or composite PVC-PET, 1 or 4 kByte EEPROM read/write memory, and with or without a magnetic stripe.