HID Global have announced a new cloud-based platform for secure Near Field Communications (NFC) tags. According to the access control and identity product company, this eliminates the inherent risks of authenticating original documents, processes, data-logging and high-value assets with traditional sign-off procedures. Pictured is a contactless reader which the embedded NFC tags work with.
At CARTES
In Paris, HID Global will showcase the platform at the CARTES 2012 in Hall 3, Stand F002 at the Paris Nord Villepinte Exhibition Center from November 6 to 8.
Using the company’s Trusted Identity Platform (TIP) for secure communications and identity transactions, the HID Trusted Tag Services platform secures assets and protects consumers from counterfeit goods while improving authentication convenience by using contactless readers or any NFC-enabled smartphone. HID Trusted Tag transponders can be embedded within an item or attached to a document to establish its unique identity, and presented to any NFC-enabled reader or smartphone to verify it’s authentic.
Included is a range of tags, inlays and cards. This enables cloud-based provisioning of identity certificates to the NFC tags, as well as the revocation of certificates at any time, such as when a batch of high-value items has been stolen. The company also is extending technology licences to qualified partners to enable third-party development of secure NFC products and applications that can be used within the company’s HID Trusted Tag Services platform infrastructure.
Dr Tam Hulusi, senior vice president with HID Global said: “As the internet of things becomes more of a reality, the HID Trusted Tag product and services platform will enable a new set of secure NFC services applied to a wide range of requirements for secure tracking, auditing, or origination. This new service will accelerate and co-mingle the management of our interaction of physical objects with our already virtualised daily life such as email and social media. HID Trusted Tag transponders can be applied to physical objects and documents such as birth certificates, college diplomas, deeds of trust, and certificates of authenticity for expensive or unique items, as well as high-value works of art, asset service history and warranty records, and usage compliance documentation.”
Holders of government certificates, legal agreements, warranties and other important documents have traditionally protected them from fraud by having them physically signed or notarised by a person acting in a trusted role. However, these documents have been at risk of forgery and duplication. There also has been no easy way to authenticate the value or ownership of physical items including luxury products, or the warranty status of purchased equipment. Now, authentication tags can be attached to a document with an electronically signed and cryptographically secure digital certificate of authenticity from the owner or trusted certification entity. Impossible to clone or duplicate, these tags can also be hidden inside a product or inserted into tamper-proof stickers that can be attached to products and equipment. Users can verify authenticity with complete confidence, at any time in the product or document’s lifetime. With NFC-enabled smartphones, this authentication process can be performed anywhere, at any time, using a smartphone application.
Marc Bielmann, vice president and managing director of Identification Technologies with HID Global, said: “This offering extends our expertise in delivering secure identity for personnel to delivering secure identity for objects, combining our leadership in secure identity creation, use and management with our more than two decades of experience in RFID products and solutions used across industry and logistics as well as animal identification applications. We see a sizable market opportunity for this new set of secure NFC-enabled services, and we also want to work with software and hardware partners to cultivate a broad network of products that take advantage of these services.”
The access firm’s platform includes NFC and other RFID tags, and the secure TIP boundary for conducting authentication transactions. TIP uses an identity model called the Secure Identity Object to safeguard all authentication transactions between HID Trusted Tag tranponders, phones and readers. The HID Trusted Tag service can be used with any NFC-enabled smartphone or mobile device within the service’s secure TIP boundary. HID Trusted Tag solutions also can be used on authentication certification platforms from other manufacturers, and the HID Trusted Tag platform will likewise support the use of other suppliers’ tags. HID also plans to expand its own tag offering with a variety of Trusted Tag application-specific and custom follow-on products.
