Preventing Counterfeiting With RFID

Nov. 13, 2006
Standarized digital signatures offer protection across the value chain.

Supply chain items at risk for counterfeiting can find increased protection through the new Certicom Security for RFID Product Authentication. Certicom Security, based in Mississauga, Canada, teamed up with Texas Instruments to create the product which works as a distributed system to provide real-time authentication of a tagged product. A simple application programming interface (API) enables developers to integrate the product's components with RFID middleware and enterprise applications.

"The RFID industry is telling us that what is needed is a security infrastructure that provides the smallest possible standardized digital signatures, along with privacy protection features, with integrated key management to meet the needs of the supply chain constituency, especially the pharmaceutical manufacturers and retailers," said Jim Alfred, director of product management for Certicom.

Certicom uses standards-based and proven cryptographic protocols for its RFID appliance, including a standardized public-key cryptography scheme from IEEE 1363a. This efficient ECC-based digital signature scheme enables a high level of security without requiring a lot of computing power and storage. For example, at 160 bits, ECC provides the same level of protection as a 1024-bit RSA key but is approximately one-third the size.

To view a demonstration of the product visit http://www.ti.com/rfidvidcast

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