December 12, 2019
Smartrac’s NFC inlays and tags are the basis for secure product authentication and enhanced customer engagement. Smartrac’s latest Pro series takes NFC to a highly secure level that beats counterfeiting and creates digital platforms of unprecedented trust and value.
Smartrac’s Pro inlays and tags provide real-time product authentication based on state-of-the-art cryptographic algorithms, resulting in superior security in many applications. By embedding any of Smartrac’s Pro inlays or tags into physical products or packaging, brand owners and branded product manufacturers can turn their products into highly secure digital platforms. This can deliver unmatched value during the product lifetime from point of manufacture, through the supply chain, distribution channels, point of sale and customer usage phases, to reselling and recycling. Key applications enabled by secure product authentication with NFC are counterfeit and diversion protection, as well as exclusive content and rewards for enhanced consumer engagement and customer loyalty programs.
A variety of options, one accomplishment: maximum security
Today, customers can already choose between two form factors – the Circus Pro and the slightly more robust Circus Pro Flex inlays and tags. Both types are currently available with two state-of-the-art IC options: NXP’s NTAG® 424 DNA IC and Smartrac's OTP IC, a white label chip developed and manufactured by a leading global IC vendor. The availability of two IC options increases the business case viability for secure product authentication and enhanced customer engagement in a multitude of applications, and for a particularly broad range of branded products that are prone to counterfeiting.
Cutting-edge security and privacy features: NXP NTAG 424 DNA
NXP’s NTAG 424 DNA ICs work with all NFC-enabled devices and smartphones and support real-time tag and message authentication based on AES-128 encryption on attack-resistant certified silicon. The Secure Unique NFC (SUN) authentication feature enables authentic, integrity-protected and confidential data exchanges between tags and servers. This high-end security IC option offers enhanced privacy features and on-chip sensitive data storage, protected by a sophisticated three-pass mutual authentication scheme.
"Customers have now already access to the latest most relevant and broadest portfolio of NFC products, which are reshaping the market with superior security and quality." — Hal Hikita, SVP Product Market Development at Smartrac.
Cost-effectiveness for premium consumer packaged goods: Smartrac OTP
Smartrac’s new OTP IC generates one-time password values based on HMAC (Hash-based Message Authentication Codes) as published by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF RFC 4226). This Smartrac-exclusive chip provides a very cost-effective option for secure product authentication in areas such as premium consumer packaged goods (CPG), industrial components, retail, cosmetics and healthcare, as well as branded pharmaceutical products.
NFC Pro series: Secure authentication with tailored security and layers
To comply with the greatest possible array of individual customer requirements, both IC options available today support a choice of digital verification services for secure product authentication and the delivery of exclusive digital content. As the secret keys cannot be copied or tampered, physical product authenticity can be proven in a highly reliable manner once the Pro inlays and tags are irremovably embedded into or attached to the physical product.
Future Pro features and options will also include different security layers, allowing customers to utilize secure product authentication for a wide range of needs and applications. Offering a variety of different NFC product designs, form factors and IC options for individual customer demands, Smartrac will soon introduce further Pro versions also of its popular NFC inlays and tags such as Bullseye and Midas.
The broadest portfolio of NFC products for highly secure product authentication
“The introduction of our innovative Pro series is a milestone for us in two respects. The new NFC inlays and tags enable our customers to effectively fight counterfeiting with a variety of highly secure functionalities, and at the same time provide consumers with exclusive, instant digital content through existing devices and channels. Customers have now already access to the latest most relevant and broadest portfolio of NFC products, which are reshaping the market with superior security and quality,” says Hal Hikita, SVP Product Market Development at Smartrac.
Earlier this year, Smartrac caused a considerable stir within the market when it announced its Green Tag Program and hence the development of truly sustainable RFID products. Meanwhile, Smartrac has brought to market the Web Green inlay, its very first “green” product and the initial outcome of a technology partnership with 4E Antenna.
A strong commitment from Smartrac will ensure that the RFID pacesetter manufactures RFID products that live up to a true sustainability promise - even under strict Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) scrutiny.
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