De La Rue scoops UK ePassport contract

De La Rue scoops UK ePassport contract

NEWS from CRI in order to be used on MasterCard’s payment networks. Samsung is the largest volume manufacturer of semiconductor chips, ranked No. 1 in...

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NEWS from CRI in order to be used on MasterCard’s payment networks. Samsung is the largest volume manufacturer of semiconductor chips, ranked No. 1 in the world by Frost & Sullivan, and is a major supplier to the smart card industry. This is the fourth announcement of its kind, following Infineon, Renesas and NXP. This means that smart card chip makers with DPA countermeasure licenses from CRI now produce more than 72% of smart card ICs. In other words, more than three billion cards are manufactured annually with a license from CRI. Under the agreement, Samsung can use CRI’s patents as part of its strategy to develop and enhance its security chips used in smart cards. The license also covers software executing on Samsung chips, allowing Samsung’s customers to develop their own security countermeasures without a separate license from CRI. DPA is a form of attack that involves monitoring the fluctuating electrical power consumption of a target device and then using advanced statistical methods to derive cryptographic keys and other secrets. Strong countermeasures to DPA help protect smart cards used in applications such as banking, pay television, mass transit, secure ID, and wireless telecommunications. Cryptography Research has been awarded a portfolio of approximately 50 patents covering countermeasures to DPA attacks.

epassports

De La Rue scoops UK ePassport contract

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he next generation of chip-based British passports will be delivered under a new ten-year £400 million contract awarded today to De La Rue. The news will be a big blow to the incumbent passport printer 3M Security Printing Systems (SPSL), a division of 3M, which had already been producing biometric passports. The passport, which will be available from October 2010, will have a new design and improved security features including the capacity to hold fingerprint biometrics within the document’s embedded chip. It will give citizens added protection from identity theft and help secure borders against passport and identity fraud. The contract will ensure the British passport keeps pace with the most advanced international standards for travel documents. James Hall, Chief Executive of the Identity and Passport Service, said: “The British passport

June 2009

is recognised as one of the best in the world and we want to keep it that way. Today we are affirming our commitment to making this travel document more secure than ever by using fingerprint biometrics. Upgrading the British passport is essential to keep pace with the most advanced international standards for travel documents and will ensure that British citizens have the freedom to travel easily worldwide.” The procurement process for the contract started with 20 prospective bidders in June 2008, before De La Rue was awarded the £400 million contract to design and produce the next generation passport. James Hussey, CEO of De La Rue, said: “The Identity and Passport Service was looking for a partner it could rely on to deliver the complete service for the UK passport. As a British company, producing passports and identity documents for over 50 governments, De La Rue is proud to be selected to bring its expertise to this project. This contract further reinforces De La Rue’s strong growth in the identity sector.” The next generation passport will allow safer international travel for all British citizens and will support the UK’s immigration system to protect borders. IPS issued two contracts earlier this year: UÊ Ì…iÊ««ˆV>̈œ˜Ê>˜`Ê ˜Àœ“i˜ÌÊ­E ®ÊVœ˜tract to replace the current passport application processing system which is about to come to the end of its life; and UÊ Ì…iÊ >̈œ˜>Ê ˆœ“iÌÀˆVÊ`i˜ÌˆÌÞÊ-iÀۈViÊ (NBIS) contract to provide a database to support the introduction of biometric passports and ID cards and replace existing biometric databases used by UKBA.

resident card

New multi-application resident card in Hillingdon

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he London Borough of Hillingdon is to introduce a multi-application resident card as part of the council’s plans to offer local residents access to services at preferential rates. HillingdonFirst is the largest multi-application resident card delivered for several years in England. The Council is issuing over 147,000 HillingdonFirst resident cards which will offer residents preferential rates at council parking facilities, access to libraries, free entry to the council’s domestic waste and recycling centre, and discounts at participating shops and businesses.

IN BRIEF UÊ Mobile Payment Skins (MPS) is introducing a new mobile phone skinning technology. A card holder has the ability to select their phone model and select their specific graphical artwork to order their own mobile skin that fits them the best. Their specific skin is then printed and fabricated ondemand and sent to them. When the card holder receives the vinyl skin, it is pealed from its backing and “wrapped” onto their mobile phone. The skin is embedded with a contactless payment chip that gives the skin added function at the point of sale. UÊ Oberthur Technologies and Dyetron, a provider of smart card-based technology solutions for the transportation, communications, government and financial sectors, have announced a partnership to provide EMV cards in Colombia. Colombia’s Superintendencia Financiera has imposed a January 2010 deadline for issuers and merchants to migrate to EMV payment because of rising fraud rates from standard magnetic stripe debit cards. After this deadline, the liability over fraudulent transaction rests solely on the party that hasn’t upgraded to EMV -- whether it be the issuer or the merchant. Dyetron will utilize Oberthur’s end-to-end common personalization system at its local personalization centre. UÊ Le Crédit Lyonnais (LCL) selected Gemalto to launch a bank card in France, customized with a personal photograph. LCL is a subsidiary of Crédit Agricole, a leading banking group in France with 26 million customers. Gemalto provides LCL with a web-based solution enabling users to upload their identity photograph onto the bank’s website. The company also supplies picture validation services and personalizes the cards. The service has been rolled-out since the end of May 2009. This EMV card is dedicated to students and aims to combine the advantages of a payment card with those of the ISIC (International Student Identity Card) international student card. Cardholders can make purchases worldwide and benefit from coupons from ISIC partners. UÊ ʘiÜÊ`iÎ̜«ÊVœ˜Ì>V̏iÃÃÊÓ>ÀÌÊV>À`ÊÀi>`iÀÊ has been introduced by Secura Key. The ET4-AUS-D is a new addition to the company’s line of e*Tag Contactless Smart Card readers. It is a desktop reader/writer unit with a standard USB cable, which works with any Windows PC. It functions as a Human Interface Device, using the built-in drivers in Windows. The ET4-AUS-D reads and write to Secura Key’s e*Tag cards and keytags, which are ISO15693 compliant contactless smart cards.

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