I don't know the details, but there are probably many possible ways to get the PIN, since it's getting entered right then and there. Smartcard is a small comput

I don't know the details, but there are probably many possible ways to get the PIN, since it's getting entered right then and there. Smartcard is a small computer, but the connection to it from terminal is probably not that secure and can be read somehow, side-channels or directly. The card decides if the PIN is correct, but it might be possible to record all the PINs that were tried.