HID Global Unveils Trusted Cloud Service for Creating and Tracking NFC Tags Used to Manage the Internet of Things

HID Global®, a worldwide leader in secure identity solutions, today announced a new cloud-based platform for secure Near Field Communications (NFC) tags and services that eliminates the inherent risks of authenticating original documents, processes, data-logging and high-value assets with traditional sign-off procedures.  Leveraging the company’s proven Trusted Identity Platform® (TIPÔ) for secure communications and identity transactions, the HID Trusted Tag™ Services platform secures assets and protects consumers from counterfeit goods while improving authentication convenience by using contactless readers or any NFC-enabled smartphone.  HID Trusted Tag transponders can be embedded within an item or attached to a document to establish its unique identity, and presented to any NFC-enabled reader or smartphone to verify its authenticity.  



The HID Trusted Tag Services ecosystem includes a comprehensive range of tag, inlay and card solutions as well as the HID Trusted Tag authentication transaction environment.  This environment enables cloud-based provisioning of identity certificates to the NFC tags, as well as the revocation of certificates at any time, such as when a batch of high-value items has been stolen.  The company also announced it is extending technology licenses to qualified partners to enable third-party development of secure NFC products and applications that can be used within the company’s HID Trusted Tag Services platform infrastructure. 
 
“As the internet of things becomes more of a reality, the HID Trusted Tag product and services platform will enable a new set of secure NFC services applied to a wide range of requirements for secure tracking, auditing, or origination,” said Dr. Tam Hulusi, senior vice president with HID Global. “This new service will accelerate and comingle the management of our interaction of physical objects with our already virtualized daily life such as email and social media. HID Trusted Tag transponders can be applied to physical objects and documents such as birth certificates, college diplomas, deeds of trust, and certificates of authenticity for expensive or unique items, as well as high-value works of art, asset service history and warranty records, and usage compliance documentation. 
 
Holders of government certificates, legal agreements, warranties and other important documents have traditionally protected them from fraud by having them physically signed or notarized by a person acting in a trusted role.  However, these documents, themselves, have been at risk of forgery and duplication.  There also has been no easy way to authenticate the value or ownership of physical items including luxury products, or the warranty status of purchased equipment.  Now, authentication tags can be attached to a document with an electronically signed and cryptographically secure digital certificate of authenticity from the owner or trusted certification entity. Impossible to clone or duplicate, these tags can also be embedded in a product or incorporated in tamper-resistant stickers that can be attached to products and equipment.  Users can verify authenticity with complete confidence at any time in the product or document’s lifetime.  With NFC-enabled smartphones, this authentication process can be performed anywhere, at any time, using a smartphone application.
 
“This offering extends our expertise in delivering secure identity for personnel to delivering secure identity for objects, combining HID Global’s leadership in secure identity creation, use and management with our more than two decades of experience in RFID products and solutions used across industry and logistics as well as animal identification applications,” said Marc Bielmann, vice president and managing director of Identification Technologies with HID Global.  “We see a sizable market opportunity for this new set of secure NFC-enabled services, and we also want to work with software and hardware partners to cultivate a broad network of products that take advantage of these services.”
 
The HID Trusted Tag Services platform includes NFC and other RFID tags, as well as HID Global’s secure TIP boundary for conducting authenticated transactions.  TIP uses an identity model called the Secure Identity Object™ to safeguard all authentication transactions between HID Trusted Tag transponders, phones and readers.  The HID Trusted Tag service can be used with any NFC-enabled smartphone or mobile device within the service’s secure TIP boundary.  HID Trusted Tag solutions can also be used with authentication certification platforms and RFID tags from other manufacturers, and HID Global also plans to expand its own tag offering with a variety of Trusted Tag application-specific and custom follow-on products.

Source: HID Global