Date: 29/06/2012

Infineon security chip for Malaysia’s new national ID card “MyKad”

Infineon Technologies has announced that it is supplying the security chips for Malaysia's new national electronic identity cards. The 'MyKad' new generation smart card features Infineon`s SLE 78 security controller and 'Integrity Guard' security technology.

MyKad is a multi-application national electronic identity card that includes biometric identification which allows the implementation of additional utilities such as Driving License, Health, ATM, eSignature and eGovernment services. The bearer’s personal data should be protected during the entire life of the card irrespective of the intensive use.

"We have already proven the robustness and reliability of our security chips for identity documents in many projects worldwide," says Dr. Stefan Hofschen, president of the Division Chip Card & Security at Infineon Technologies. "The MyKad program clearly follows the industrial trend to move from MASK ROM based smart card ICs towards secure and certified state-of-the-art flash controllers like Infineon's SOLID FLASH products. Therewith we can fulfill the future challenges of government and payment projects while providing a competitive total cost of ownership."

The used SOLID FLASH is flexible and secured. The security certified Flash product permits a faster reaction to market changes through short lead times and flexible product usage, and provides advantages in logistics, development and throughout the certification process. A full range of SOLID FLASH products are common criteria certified by the BSI (Federal Office for Security in Information Technology) in Germany as well as type approved by EMVCo.

MyKad uses the Integrity Guard security technology which offers security with encrypted Dual CPU-core for secure electronic documents. The data is encrypted along the entire data path during processing in this technology. The security controller core has two processing units, constantly checking each other's correct function by using sophisticated error detection.

According to Eurosmart, 240 million security chips for security documents were distributed in 2011. Infineon's share of this market segment amounts round 40 percent.

Infineon also claims that they are the only semiconductor supplier who has been shipping to the electronic passport projects of China, India, USA, Indonesia and Brazil in 2011.

For further information: www.infineon.com/sle78