Annual SESAMES awards given to the “best in ID technology”
23 November, 2004
category: Biometrics, Contactless, Financial, Library
A “chip sandwich,” an all-in-one payment and metering device for taxi cabs, and specially-designed paper that can include an RFID antenna, were some of the nine innovative SESAMES award winners at CARTES in Paris earlier this month.
One of the big winners was Gemplus. The smart card company walked away with two honors–one for its BioEasy solution and another for its TLS-based secure channel. A handful of other companies, most based in France, were recipients of the highly touted awards.
Best Software: Gemplus with BioEasy
Gemplus’ BioEasy won in the Best Software category. It introduced a new concept for secure biometric verification on a smart card by providing an alternative to match-on-card that allows fast biometrics authentication on the smart card without compromising security or memory space.
The company’s BioEasy patent offers a simple method to deploy biometric technology, using the card itself for authentication rather than the PC or card reader. According to the company, this takes no longer than 80 milliseconds without compromising security or memory space. The smart card, the company added, is the ideal support vehicle to manage portable biometrics information.
“Security is fundamental to our industry, helping to identify individuals, protect privacy, prevent fraud and protect assets,” said Gemplus’s Jacques Seneca, executive vice president, research and development.
Best Mobile Application: Gemplus with APDU-TLS
Gemplus’ second honor was for Best Mobile Application. With the non-sexy name of APDU-TLS, the solution secures communication between a smart card and a terminal where the data is subject to attack. Based on the TLS protocol, the product sets up a secure end-to-end communication between a smart card and a terminal in the Internet environment. In essence, it secures a Bluetooth session between a PC and a mobile handset in which the SIM is used as the credential.
According to Max De Groot, Technical Marketing with Gemplus, the application is a ideal for “mobile phone operators looking to use the SIM for additional connectivity to wireless LAN networks without jeopardizing the security of the SIM and network.”
Best IT Security Application: ASK with SPID
In the Best IT Security Application category, ASK took top honors for its Smart Paper Identification Document (SPID). Thanks to a high-capacity contactless chip and a silver-ink antenna directly printed onto the paper substrate, SPID is ASK’s answer for secure ID documents – such as passports, national ID cards, healthcare cards, civil servant cards, e-Government services, visas and driver’s licenses.
According to Michel Leduc, Contactless Solutions Manager for ASK, SPID is a “virtual inlaying process.” In the case of passports, he adds, the booklet manufacturer “provides the covers to ASK, ASK prints the antennae and adds the chip, then puts a paper overly on top of it.”
It meets requirements and specifications of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the United Nations standardization agency.
Best Hardware Innovation: Infineon with the “chip sandwich”
Infineon Technologies’ “chip sandwich,” or SLE 88CFX1M00P, predictably claimed the best new hardware honor. It is the first commercial smart card microcontroller containing face-to-face technology, an advanced 3D chip stacking method that allows the design of a system composed of a bottom and a top chip. Its multiple benefits could trumpet the foundation of a new chip card era.
According to Munich, Germany-based Infineon, its 32-bit chip card controller can provide eight times the memory capacity of today’s chip card controllers due to its face-to-face interconnection. Its chip is expected to trigger a performance leap for chip cards used in mobile communications where the demand for additional memory capacity is greatest. The area of today’s chips used in card applications is restricted to about 25 square millimeters. Stacking them can open up new potentials for card and phone applications.
Best Transport Application: Ingenico with IngeCab
Ingenico’s IngeCab solution for the taxi industry grabbed first place for the Best Transport Application. IngeCab is an integrated solution for taxi automation, what French-based Ingenico calls a “world first for the taxi industry.” The product integrates all of the in-car functions of payment, metering, dispatch and communications into a single system. By eliminating duplication, the product allows cab companies to save money. It also provides for greater data management security.
According to Simon Lang, Ingenico’s Head of Market Initiatives Asia Pacific Region and key proponent for the IngeCab system, there are 15,000 taxis equipped with the solution in Australia. “Now,” he adds, “we are moving it to other markets.”
When asked what the award means to the project, Mr. Lang told SecureIDNews, “after we won the award, I SMS’d the country manager in Thailand (where a pilot is beginning). This puts the seal of approval on the technology and gives them the validation of their decision.”
Best Banking Application: PBS with PSAM
In SESAMES’ Best Banking/Finance/Retail Application category, the PBS PSAM chip card was the winner. PSAM (Payment Secure Application Module) is a small application module that performs secure checking and approval of chip-based cards in terminal solutions.
According to the Danish company, PSAM can function as a common standard in international terminal solutions in the same way as SIM cards in mobile phones. This, the company says, makes the terminal more flexible if a business wishes to change its clearing bank.
“We regard this prize as a seal of approval for the development work our technical team has performed and it paves the way to the international market, in which terminal providers are naturally looking to move in the direction of standard solutions that are secure and effective,” said Nils Hilbard, director for the debit card sector at PBS A/S.
Best Health Care Application: Xiring with Le Point Xiring
The winner in the Best Health Care Application category was Xiring, also based in France. Its Le Point Xiring allows each person to update his or her Vitale health card using a self-service terminal located in the pharmacy or at the hospital registration desk. When a Vitale card is inserted, le Point XIRING connects via the Internet to the French Health Insurance central server. The reference file is verified and the card is securely updated.
Best eTransaction Innovation: WAY Systems with WAYVoucher
WAYVoucher from Boston, Massachusetts-based WAY Systems, a provider of mobile phone-based POS solutions including its Mobile Transaction Terminal, won first place for the Best e-Transactions Application. WAYVoucher is an e-pin recharge solution for prepaid card resellers. It was developed with WAY’s French partner, Ingevoucher. The prepaid voucher can be distributed in stores or non-store environments. Smaller Merchants, like street vendors, can now securely resell printed e-vouchers instead of the expensive-to-manage prepaid cards. Target markets are prepaid card operators and mobile operators in China, Latin America and the Caribbean, says the company.
“Receiving an award from CARTES…is testimony to the strength and multi-application capabilities of MTT, the industry’s first out-of-the box packaged Mobile Point of Sale solution,” said Will Graylin, CEO of WAY Systems.
Best Loyalty Application: Iteon with Robin
For the Best Loyalty Application, another French company, Iteon, took top honors with its Robin protocol. Robin enables a smart card to contain the application software that allows a terminal to work with it. Because the card contains the application, it will work on any terminal, without the need for specific software. According to Iteon, Robin uses a standard protocol (ISO 7816-4, ISO 7816-9). Its architecture is scalable–it can run on any smart card, even low-end ones–and the application will adapt itself to the capability of the terminal (PC, EFT/POS, and ATM).
To learn more about the winners and the other nominees, visit the SESAMES award section of the CARTES website: http://www.cartes.com/en/framesetdyn.htm?URL=Itrophee/I4_gagnants.htm