Malaysia taps Infineon for national ID project
28 June, 2012
category: Biometrics, Government, Health, Smart Cards
Infineon Technologies announced it is supplying the security chips for Malaysia’s new national electronic identity cards. Known as MyKad, the smart card features Infineon’s SLE 78 security controller with Integrity Guard security technology, combined with SOLID FLASH for fast deployment capability.
MyKad is a multi-application national electronic identity card, including biometric identification, which will enable the implementation of additional functions such as driver license, health, ATM, e-signature and eGovernment services. In the past years, Malaysia issued approximately 2 million new identity cards each year.
Identity cards are used for many years and are subject to intense wear. This is why they must meet specific high requirements. In particular, the bearer’s personal data should be secured during the entire life of the card.
The Infineon SOLID FLASH product provides flexibility by using non-volatile memory technologies. The security certified flash product enables a faster reaction to market changes through short lead times and flexible product usage and offers advantages in logistics, development and throughout the certification process.
A full range of SOLID FLASH products are Common Criteria certified by the Federal Office for Security in Information Technology in Germany as well as type approved by EMVCo making it the choice for many applications while keeping flexibility for upcoming changes.
MyKad also uses Infineon’s Integrity Guard security technology. For identification documents with high demands on security, it offers long lasting security with encrypted Dual CPU-core. With this technology, data is encrypted along the entire data path during processing. The security controller core has two processing units, constantly checking each other’s correct function by utilizing error detection.
Infineon’s SLE 78 product family with Integrity Guard is used in eGovernment applications, such as the electronic health card, the electronic identification card and in residence permits with biometric data.