Date: 08/05/2012

ID card technology: Mobile phone, NFC and the design

For all the good reasons, the secure electronic access to various systems including public places is becoming important. While there are various types of ID devices, the mobile phone is turning into e-ID device as its reach is wide.

Dhiwakar Viswanathan, Head of Infineon India's chip card security business shared his thoughts on electronic ID technology. Here below is what he says on Mobile Phone, NFC and the design.

On Mobile Phone replacing ID card and also financial transactions cards such as debit card and credit-card, Dhiwakar finds the technology driving mobile phone as an ID device is Near Field Communication (NFC). He says " NFC applications are enormous. It can be used in simple things like public access systems, you don't need to carry cash."

Mobile Phone can be easily turned into ID card because of the embedded secure element in the form of SIM. He says "There is some kind of protocol embedded in the SIM itself which is capable of doing more than the communication aspect."

But every financial company/bank do not want SIM based ID system for financial transactions because SIM is not owned by the bank, it is owned by the network operator/mobile service provider. Also information access is not limited to bank alone.

Another way is making micro SD Card as secure element. He says " There is one type of secure element where they are thinking to put the secure element in the SD Card or Micro SD card, there is a big challenge by technology point of view, antenna have to be so small making it a big issue"

On the security robustness of any ID system: Dhiwakar says " There is one saying security is as strong as its weakest link in the chain. When we design a security system we as solution provider we have to see security as the whole thing."

Hardware, software, applications, and eco-systems need to be considered while securing the system, according to Dhiwakar. Software architect need to understand the whole solution and understand what need to be protected and security can be implemented at all levels, He adds.

Over the years in the ID business, hardware and specifications have evolved for a robust implementation. Standards play important role in proliferation of technology. Dhiwakar says "Infineon believes in open standards, so there is level playing field for all the companies and also good value addition for the end customer. In the open standard customer can choose IC from any of the vendor."

Infineon is the leading supplier of semiconductor devices for ID cards.