Behind the scenes: NFC Security

Mobile NFC offers a lot of innovative and convenient applications, but for some, trusting a mobile device to protect financial and identity information may feel chancy. In reality, there are security features available for NFC applications that make it just the opposite. One of these is the secure element providing in-device security, which can store personal information and protect your data in ways that software or your physical wallet can’t. The secure element is a tamper-resistant smart microprocessor housed inside of an NFC-enabled device. The technology conducts sensitive computational equations and securely stores information that can be remotely provisioned in its UICC form factor while acting as a firewall between your NFC-based applications and the other applications on your phone.

Setting Standards for the Internet of Things

Fifteen years ago, one of the first major initiatives in the Internet of Things took place. In 1999, the Auto-ID Center was formed at MIT; it later became the Auto-ID Labs, a global consortium of researchers and practitioners. The goal of both organizations was to research and help implement radio-frequency identification devices (RFID). That same year also marked the first recorded use of the Internet of Things (IoT) term by an Auto-ID co-director. (While the concept of connected things goes back at least two decades, to our knowledge it was Kevin Ashton, a co-founder of the MIT Auto-ID Center, who first used the appealing IoT term in 1999.) RFID was arguably the first major IoT technology of any scale.

Trade groups come together to accelerate NFC-based services

GlobalPlatform and the Global Certification Forum signed a liaison agreement that will enable both bodies to collaborate on the optimization of testing and certification procedures that will support and accelerate the deployment of secure near field communication (NFC) services, according to a press release.

GlobalPlatform is an association which standardizes the management of applications on secure chip technology. Global Certification Forum is an independent certification scheme for mobile phones and wireless devices based on 3GPP and 3GPP2 standards. 

GuardRFID receives CE Mark Approval for its AllGuard Active RFID Platform and Tags

Guard RFID Solutions Inc. announced
that it has received approval for the CE Mark for commercial sale of Readers, Tags and other components of its AllGuard Active RFID platform, used to create leading-edge real-time tracking, location and security solutions for healthcare, enterprise and industrial markets. GuardRFID’s systems have already been deployed in over a hundred facilities in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Saudi Arabia since GuardRFID’s inception in 2007.

The diverse range of solutions include TotGuard Infant Security, AllGuard Wandering Patient Protection, SafeGuard Staff Duress and AllGuard Asset Tracking, all specifically developed for healthcare facilities, as well as AllGuard Personnel Safety and Accountability, AllGuard Yard Management and AllGuard Asset Tracking and Security for deployment in industrial and enterprise environments. GuardRFID, in collaboration with its European partners, is already in the planning stages for deployment of systems required in Europe and expects to begin implementation of these over the coming months.
 
“Our 433MHz based AllGuard Platform is ideal for these environments, due to the nature of the frequency band allowing attributes such as long range, low power and therefore very small tags, and the ability to work in the presence of densely populated metal structures,” add Dalibor Pokrajac, Executive Vice President of GuardRFID. “Our technology has been adopted within the IEEE 802.11.4f Active RFID standard as well as the ISO 18000-7 standard, and therefore we are standards ready and the first standards compliant products are already available for commercial deployment. This makes our platform very compelling to end users looking for standards based solutions that offer longevity and multiple sources.”

Entrust offers agencies smart-card management from the cloud

Entrust Datacard released a new component of its IdentityGuard cloud services that consolidates the management of smart cards, USB tokens and mobile smart credentials — in the cloud. The offering is designed to address the reality that data security “starts with a secure, trusted identity,” the company said, “yet today's organization is tasked with provisioning multiple identities with a variety of incompatible solutions.” To simplify the process, Entrust developed a console that lets agencies produce a single unified identity credential for each person associated with the agency or a citizen population — delivered as a service.

Rebecca Minkoff Store Uses RFID to Provide an Immersive Experience

Rebecca Minkoff's new clothing store in New York City's SoHo neighborhood is slated to open today, featuring smart technology provided by eBay Inc.'s Retail Innovation team and RFID tags and consultation from Avery Dennison Retail Branding and Information Solutions (RBIS). Thanks to the RFID system, the store can now identify which garments a shopper brings into a fitting room, and he or she can then request other items displayed on the room's mirror, which also acts as a touchscreen.

AllUnite Pulls In $3.7M For Its iBeacon Alternative For In-Store Mobile Ads

Danish startup AllUnite, which uses the lure of free Wi-Fi to drive local adverts to people logging on within retail locations such as shopping centers, has closed a €3 million ($3.7 million) Series A funding round. The round was led by European VC firm Northzone, along with Denmark’s largest grocery chain retailer, Coop. Prior to this the startup had pulled in €500,000 in funding from Danish investor Christian Stadil, along with the founders contributing a further €500,000 in seed cash.

What Can RFID Do For SMB Retailers?

At the VARTECH 2014 Conference in New Orleans, Marty Johnson of Zebra Technologies provided an overview of how RFID (radio frequency identification) can be beneficial to SMB retailers. Johnson points out the industry is approaching a point at which RFID will be as pervasive as bar codes. Though RFID adoption began with the largest retailers, now more and more specialty retailers and even smaller retailers and brand owners have begun to pilot the technology to improve their efficiency and reduce their bottom line. The ROI of RFID for retailers includes eliminating inventory “touches” and data errors, improving visibility, reducing inventory levels and out of stock items, and also reducing expedited shipments.

How Can We Implement RFID at Our Electronic and Home Appliances Retail Stores?

Start by asking what problems exist in your current operations. Do you waste time looking for specific products within the warehouse? Are shipments from the warehouses to the stores accurate? Do you have problems returning items from stores to the warehouse? If any of these are issues, then you will want to make sure you develop a solution that resolves these problems. My suggestion would be to conduct a pilot to determine the potential benefits. You will need to purchase some tags and readers. I would suggest using passive ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) RFID. Have the tag placed on the carton containing the appliance.

Secure smart cards and mobile payments

Daniel Castro, of the Center for Data Innovation and the Information Technology Innovation Foundation, recently penned an opinion piece in The Hill asserting that secure smart card Chip & PIN is “old and outdated technology.” Castro could not have been more wrong. The president’s recent Executive Order on Improving the Security of Consumer Financial Transactions wisely mandated Chip & PIN because it is an established and trusted technology used worldwide to protect consumers, retailers and the banking system from identity theft and fraud. The recent increase in domestic fraud is a consequence of the United States being the last G-20 nation to adopt this technology, making Americans an easier target for financial fraud and identity theft than foreign consumers. 

Brooklyn Nets launch mobile wallet

American Express has partnered with New York basketball team Brooklyn Nets to pilot Brooklyn eWallet, a digital payment solution integrated into the team’s mobile app that lets fans buy food and drink with their mobile phone at any event held at the Barclays Center arena. Fans can link up to 10 credit, charge, debit or prepaid cards to their wallet to fund purchases by taking a picture of their card. They can then make payments at participating concession stands by scanning a QR code generated by the merchant.

Tagit RFID showcases technology solutions at upcoming Dubai International Jewellery Week 2014

Gone are the days of manually counting inventory and products. Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology is currently revolutionising the global jewellery industry to offer a real-time and cost-effective solution to manage and track the inventory of millions of pieces of jewellery among many other applications. Dubai-based company, Tagit, is part of the RFID revolution and is currently implementing solutions across a range of jewellery stores in the Middle East, Asia and Europe. The company will be exhibiting at Dubai International Jewellery Week 2014 to showcase its latest technologies.

Thanks to Apple Pay, NFC Technology May Be Here to Stay

It wasn't long ago that there was a general consensus that Apple would never adopt NFC, or near-field communications, technology to support mobile payments on iPhones. But boy were the pundits wrong. Now Apple is leading the charge with NFC, and the technology might actually catch on. Following the iPhone 5 unveiling, Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller said NFC technology was exempt from the iPhone because he did not think it solves any problems for users.

GPS and RFID-enabled solutions for child safety

HandsTel, a brand new start-up dedicated to the development of technology products for civilian safety and security, has launched a wearable device that allows a child to instantly alert parents with precise location in case of an emergency and a multi-featured responder app for parents to respond instantly. The internet of things (IoT) wearable smart band/watch works as a detection device and parents will have an option to call the built-in phone on the device to confirm an ..

NFC systems hacked at Mobile Pwn2Own

Security professionals have exposed several bugs in Near Field Communication (NFC) payment systems during the Mobile Pwn2Own event in Tokyo. As part of the efforts to demonstrate the vulnerabilities of NFC, experts used eight smartphones including the Apple iPhone, Blackberry Z30, Amazon Fire phone and Google Nexus 7. Hackers were able to successfully exploited the already discovered bugs to attack five devices, with three teams successfully extracting data at will from the devices, the BBC noted.

Hospital boosts patient safety with RFID

Fletcher Allen was facing a problem. The 500-plus bed hospital in the heart of Vermont’s ski country needed to turn over as many as 20 to 30 medication trays within a limited time while maintaining patient safety, and the manual system had become unwieldy. It was almost impossible to keep up, in fact, and the pharmacy tech support staff realized that automating the system was the only alternative. When pharmacy director Karen McBride went to the Midyear Clinical Meeting of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists she witnessed a demonstration of Kit Check's automated RFID system.

Optus launches NFC payments on Android

Optus customers using certain Android devices will soon be able to make payments with their mobile phone, thanks to a new near-field communications (NFC) SIM Optus has announced in partnership with Visa and Heritage Bank. Optus customers with one of the 20 compatible Android devices from Samsung, LG, Sony and HTC will be able to order a special SIM card from Optus that contains the NFC capability to make payments in conjunction with the Cash By Optus app the company has developed with Visa and Heritage Bank.

Canada plans new mobile payment regs

The Canadian government is preparing to give merchants the ability to refuse to accept a particular NFC payment service if it attracts higher than usual fees — should that situation ever arise in the future, a document obtained by the WSJ reveals. “Should fees set by the payment card networks in respect of contactless payments made from a mobile device increase relative to card-based contactless payments, payment card networks will develop the technical specifications to ensure that merchant acceptance of contactless payments made from a mobile device can be cancelled at the point-of-sale without disabling other forms of contactless payments acceptance,” the document states.

Transport for London builds customer profiles using RFID data analytics

Cards have become more important than cash in moving around London. In July 2014, Transport for London (TfL) stopped accepting cash on its buses, telling commuters they had to use Oyster cards, or debit or credit cards with a contactless payment chip. It also began to accept cards on its Underground and rail services. TfL flagged up the customer convenience angle and acknowledged the change would make big savings over time – but the move to card payments will also provide more data it can use for long-term planning.

OT and Mobeewave Announce Solution to Turn NFC Devices into Secure Mobile Payment Terminals

Oberthur Technologies (OT) and Mobeewave, a key actor in mobile payment, are announcing a solution – Flying mPOS – turning any NFC device equipped with OT’s PEARL eSE into a secure mobile payment terminal (mPOS). OT and Mobeewave services rely on a disruptive NFC mPOS technology designed to address key actors of the industry, ranging from mobile device manufacturers to banks and merchants integrating their solutions in the next generation of NFC mobile devices.

Payment acceptance is the key enabler of mobile payment. In the context of global digitalization of payments the question of mobile payment acceptance represents a strategic issue for all actors in the mobile and payment industries. While the number of NFC-enabled phones and contactless cards issued around the globe is rising substantially, mobile payment acceptance remains insufficient. In the US, for example, the ratio of issued contactless cards to terminals is only 600 to 11.

OT is leveraging its market-leading positions in the payment ecosystem – with more than 2000 banks as customers – and with the major mobile handset makers (OEMs). Mobeewave brings the first NFC mPOS solution allowing NFC devices to accept secure contactless payments.

Read more here: http://www.heraldonline.com/2014/11/12/6520482_ot-and-mobeewave-announce-solution.html?sp=/100/773/385/&rh=1#storylink=cpy

c2c expands ITSO smart card ticketing

UK: Commuter operator c2c began offering season tickets on its c2c Smart card from November 3, including Travelcards valid for travel on the National Rail and Transport for London networks within Greater London. c2c Smart is the government’s pilot for the South East Flexible Ticketing programme to introduce smart ticketing across 12 companies operating trains into London. c2c Smart cards are compatible with other cards meeting the national ITSO specification, including the Key smart card introduced by train operator Southern. Following the ITSO on Prestige project, they are also compatible with TfL’s proprietary Oyster smart card system.

Sixt Finds RFID Is Key to Improving Customer Service

Sixt, based in Germany, is one of the world's largest car rental agencies. It operates 2,200 branches worldwide, with a total of 144,000 rental cars available, and has earned a 14 percent share of the European rental car market. One of the company's challenges has been keeping wait times down for those renting vehicles, as well as ensuring that customers can rent the cars of their choice. A source of frustration for customers and employees at some locations has been the amount of time required to locate keys for a specific vehicle.

It’s more than the wallet-killer: Everything you need to know about NFC

NFC has finally gone mainstream. The number of tablets and smartphones with NFC technology is growing fast, but so are the questions surrounding it. You’ve probably heard about Apple Pay, the digital wallet for the iPhone 6 that is making its way into hundreds of thousands of stores. But you may not know what NFC is, the uses for it, or why we should actually care. The fact is, NFC is more than a wallet-replacement. There’s nearly endless potential when NFC chips are involved. This guide to NFC chips will help answer your NFC related questions.

Beyond Replenishment: Three Tipping Points for RFID in Fashion

In recent years, a growing number of retail RFID use cases have clearly demonstrated the benefits of being able to track inventory at the item level, leading to better shelf replenishment and fewer out of stocks.  Many retailers quantify the benefits of reducing out of stocks not just at the item level (potential lost sales) but at the transaction level, since retailers closely track the number of items that comprise the average transaction (e.g. 3.6 items/sale).  Using that example, an out-of-stock item (especially in a core category such as denim) could result in lost sales of an additional 2.6 items that were to be purchased with it.

Internet of Things will transform life, but experts fear for privacy and personal data

It will help you avoid traffic jams as you travel from work to that hot new spot you've been dying to try out, tell you on the way about the bar's half-price coupons and let you check your home video monitors while knocking back a few to see if your cat is clawing the couch again. But it also might alert your insurer if your car is weaving when you head home and report your frequent drinking to your boss.

"It" is the Internet of Things, which promises to transform daily life, making it easier to work, travel, shop and stay healthy. Thanks to billions of connected devices — from smart toothbrushes and thermostats to commercial drones and robotic companions for the elderly — it also will end up gathering vast amounts of data that could provide insights about our sexual habits, religious beliefs, political leanings and other highly personal aspects of our lives.

NXP Seeks to Drive NFC Phone App Use in Cars

Automakers have begun sampling a new radio frequency identification product from NXP Semiconductors that enables "connected car" applications that could integrate a driver's cell phone with a vehicle's operation. Last week, the company announced the launch of its new automotive portfolio, beginning with its NCF3340 Near Field Communication (NFC) controller. The NCF3340, which consists of a high-frequency (HF) RFID reader chip that interfaces with a vehicle's controls and other electronic components, meets the Automotive Electronics Council's Q100 Grade 3 requirements for operation across the full temperature range experienced by an automobile.

The Internet of Things and the potential for RFID

RFID was invented seven decades ago, however, 23% of all the RFID tags ever sold were sold in 2013. In 2014, a further 1.12 billion RFID tags will be sold versus the total number of tags sold in 2013.Nov 05, 2014 Forward Page Print Page RFID was invented seven decades ago, however, 23% of all the RFID tags ever sold were sold in 2013. In 2014, a further 1.12 billion RFID tags will be sold versus the total number of tags sold in 2013. RFID has been trialled and piloted extensively and it is now in rapid adoption mode in many industries, for many applications and is being rolled out in a cookie-cutter approach as the high performance capability versus system cost proves payback. 

 

Converging with this is the rapidly growing interest in the Internet of Things, usually meaning powered IP based nodes, often with sensors. The Internet of Things (IoT) is of great excitement to many of the world's largest consumer electronics companies seeking to leverage the electronics that consumers now carry, providing new valuable capabilities and services. 

 

RFID will play an important part - namely by addressing the highest volume opportunity where tag price is important. That is why companies such as ×Googleis presenting atWearable Technology LIVE! USA 2014Santa Clara, CA, USA19 - 20 Nov 2014Google are involved, already having used UHF RFID in the development of glucose sensing contact lenses.

Softcard brings NFC payments to Windows Phone users in the US

Good news for Windows Phone users in the US – Softcard has announced it’s bringing its contactless payment technology to the mobile platform. This means that some Windows Phone users will be able to pay in-store using NFC. To recap, Softcard is a mobile payments joint venture between AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon. The system is built on contactless ‘near-field communication,’ so all you need to do is tap your device on a payment terminal and be on your way.

New NXP Module Creates a Paradigm Shift for Secure NFC Mobile Transactions

NXP Semiconductors introduced the PN66T module: the most comprehensive solution for secure mobile transactions. The module combines a highly secure Smart MX2 element (P61), Near Field Communications (NFC) radio, operating system and trust provisioning. To accelerate the deployment and meet the increased demands around mobile transactions, PN66T features a loader service, which enables service providers to easily deliver new applications by significantly simplifying the value chain of deploying credentials to devices.

The PN66T module is designed for mobile devices like smartphones and wearables and enables converged deployment of a broad set of transaction related applications such as mobile payment, access control, transit, and authentication.
 
The PN66T module leverages NXP's broad leadership in security and NFC, and delivers an outstanding user experience. The NXP secure element, the only common criteria certified EAL6+ product for mobile applications, providing the highest level of data protection and encryption to end users, payment issuers, and smartphone manufacturers. The PN66T is EMVCo (Europay, MasterCard and Visa) certified, ensuring that secure payment services can be deployed on a global scale while guaranteeing interoperability with legacy and future payment infrastructures. Offered on PN66T is trust provisioning to facilitate secure injection of cryptographic keys, enabling service providers to easily deploy new secure mobile transaction applications.

WhistlerBlackcomb eases loading with RFID technology

Remember those guys who used to hang out at the bottom of lift maze and zap your passes with a bar-code scanner? Well, guess they’ll be doing other jobs at Whistler Blackcomb this year because North America’s No. 1 resort (as voted by readers of SKI Magazine) is adopting RFID (Radio Frequency Identification Device) technology on all of its lifts. The device is a small circuit — actually a tiny antenna — integrated into your access card, which contains information pertaining to your lift ticket, season pass, or Edge Card. When you approach the access gate, the circuit in your card will automatically register and open the gate.

U.S. Payments Industry Can Layer EMV Chip, Encryption and Tokenization Security Technologies to Help Protect Against Card Fraud

Businesses processing credit and debit payments can help protect themselves against new and evolving fraud threats by implementing EMV chip technology, tokenization and encryption security technologies in conjunction, the Smart Card Alliance Payments Council states in a white paper.

Today, payments industry stakeholders are looking at many security technologies to protect their businesses and customers. This white paper explains how layering three of these technologies – chip, tokenization and encryption – in conjunction can help to secure the payments infrastructure and prevent card fraud," said Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the Smart Card Alliance.

"The degree of layering will differ among payments stakeholders depending on their requirements, environment and budget. Reading this white paper is a good start for any stakeholder starting to consider their best approach for implementing the three technologies."

The three technologies recommended in the white paper to be used in conjunction are: Chip technology, which improves the security of a payment transaction by providing cryptographic card authentication that helps protect against the acceptance of counterfeit cards.

The EMV specification also offers cardholder verification and several means of transaction authentication that help safely authorize transactions Encryption, including end-to-end encryption (E2EE) or point-to-point encryption (P2PE), which can immediately encrypt card data at time of entry—at card swipe, key entry, tap or insertion—so that no one else can read it and use the card data for unauthorized transactions.

Tokenization, which replaces card data with surrogate values (i.e. "tokens") that are unusable by outsiders and have no value outside of a specific merchant or acceptance channel.

RFID Sets Sail With Quantum of the Seas

When Royal Caribbean International's newest cruise ship, the Quantum of the Seas, embarks on its maiden voyage on Nov. 2, its passengers will be treated to several RFID-based features, including passive high-frequency (HF) RFID "WOWband" wristbands that they can use to unlock their staterooms' doors and make purchases onboard. The ship is also adopting RFID luggage tags, enabling guests to use their cell phones to view the locations of their bags during loading and unloading.

Recall introduces on-demand RFID reporting

Norcross, Georgia-based Recall Holdings Ltd. used the occasion of the 59th annual ARMA Live! Conference & Expo to announce that more than 50 million assets stored in its information centers are now managed using radio frequency identification (RFID) tags and technology. Recall’s RFID technology, which the company has used for more than nine years, serves customers in 24 countries and enables the rapid tracking of cartons, individual files and back-up tapes stored in Recall’s information centers, the company says. Recall says it also provides its clients with printable labels for in-house asset management, allowing customers a greater choice in their information governance activities.

Tageos Signs RFID Licensing Agreement with Round Rock Research

RFID label manufacturer Tageos has entered into a patent licensing agreement with Round Rock Research LLC for radio frequency identification (RFID) tags and labels to strengthen its position to support the adoption of UHF RFID at the item-level, especially for apparel retailers and brands.

This agreement allows Tageos to provide RFID labels and tags to suppliers and end-users including retailers, brand owners and partners in the U.S. and around the world. Tageos customers can confidently move forward with full RFID deployments and reap the value of RFID in their business. Item-level RFID is being adopted by the apparel industry at an accelerating rate around the world, and retailers are seeing significant improvements in their business processes, invento¬ry visibility and accuracy and shelf availability, and have seen marked improvements in their omnichannel retail business. Tageos looks forward to spurring on the adoption of RFID tagging solutions and help customers improve their business performance.

MCX Says QR Payments App Will Pivot To NFC If Necessary

In a virtual press conference, MCX‘s CEO Dekkers Davidson said “We’re agnostic about technology. We started with QR code-based technology that allows us to go to market broadly. If we need, we can pivot to NFC.” That means if retailers strongly prefer the NFC system used by Apple Pay to MCX’s mobile payment app CurrentC’s QR code system, CurrentC could switch to the more popular and graceful near field communication protocol. Davidson noted that MCX is working with retailers on “other technology that goes beyond QR codes” already. And specifically, MCX merchants are excited about Bluetooth Low-Energy solutions.

RFID technology can change the fan experience for the better

Over the past couple of years in sports and entertainment, there has been an increasing trend of stadiums, teams, event organizers, and more using RFID technology to improve the experience for fans once they arrive on site at an event. RFID, which stands for radio frequency identification, can be used to take away some of the hassle for fans at stadiums by making it easier than ever to get to their seats, purchase food and beverages, and receive personalized discounts.

Everything You Need To Know About The Internet Of Things

Today we live in a world where some of our devices are connected to each other and to us, for example wearable fitness devices that connect to our scales or smartphones that connect to our lights. However, imagine this amplified 100 fold where tens of billions of devices are connected to each other, everything from cars and phones to wearable devices, appliances, or even jet engines!
Clearly this poses a unique set of challenges and opportunities for businesses and consumers alike. To expand on that I wanted to share a visual created by the FOW Community which highlights ten important things that everyone needs to know about the internet of things.

Volkswagen Group's Uruguayan Importer Improves Efficiency Through RFID

For the past four years, Julio Cesar Lestido S.A., the official Uruguayan importer of cars and trucks manufactured by the Volkswagen Group, has been employing passive ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) RFID tags to track the metal tools it uses to maintain vehicles. The company says that it is now developing a plan to utilize the technology to record each vehicle's life history, including its date of import and sales information, as well as all maintenance provided.

The Battle of Mobile Payments will be Decided by Consumers

Two pharmacy chains decided to disable their Apple Pay option in their stores. This was the first sign of an upcoming battle that is coming in the world of mobile payments. The battle line between QR code-based apps and options such as Google Wallet or Apple pay has been drawn. One one team we have huge retailers like Walmart and CVS who have agreed to implement Merchant Consumer Exchange’s (MCX) QR code-based app. On the other team we have near-field communications (NFC) options like Google Wallet or Apple pay.

McDonald’s extends Android NFC payments in all 14,000 US outlets with Softcard tie-up

Good news for McDonald’s’ Android-using customers in the US – there are now more options for paying with NFC thanks to a tie-up between the fast food giant and Softcard. McDonalds extends Android NFC payments in all 14,000 US outlets with Softcard tie upTo recap, Softcard is a mobile payments joint venture between AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon. The system is built on contactless ‘near-field communication,’ meaning all you do is tap your mobile device on a payment terminal and be on your way. Softcard had to change its name from Isis back in September, given its similarity to the Sunni militant group.