How to access a SIM card programatically?

Question

Just any old GSM compatible SIM card (bonus for 3G USIM).

I presume I need some hardware? Can anyone recommend something cheap for hobbyist, and something more professional?

I presume that there will be full docs of an API with the h/w, so maybe this should be tagged "no-programming-related"? Sorry, if so.

Any good URLs or books (I am conversant with the 3GPP standards).

I'm not (black hat) hacking, don't worry, just not pleased with the likes of SIM Card Secretary, Data Doctor Recovery, etc, so would like to code my own, but might turn it commercial, or offer SIM card programming services (data recover from damaged card, etc) as a sideline.

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Update: while I am primarily interested just reading my SMS for backup, it might be a bonus if someone knows of a cheap SIM card writer (so that I can back up all or part of the SIM and restore it later)

Answer 1

There's lots of products and hardware to read and write SIM cards, have a look at http://forum.gsmhosting.com/vbb/f500/ in this forum you will find plenty of info concerning sim cards, mobile phones.. one of the bigest resource since 1999! for hardware programmers, you can build your own like JDM or ICprog.. check kiscan.net for some info..

Answer 2

You'll certainly need a smartcard reader and from what I've been able to find out, pretty much any one will do because they all have to support the standard functionality. They also happen to be pretty cheap. Mine is an OmniKey (not sure what model because I don't have it here right now).

Presuming that you're developing under Windows, the Windows API has functions that make it possible to access smartcards. Here is an article on CodeProject that discussees this in greater detail as part of a set of several C# classes that give you access to a bunch of this stuff without having to tangle with the nuts and bolts. I think that the guy's example app is specifically for SIM cards, so that'll probably help.