Protecting What Matters: The MIFARE SAM AV3 Adds Security to Smart City Applications 29. April 2020
Protecting What Matters: The MIFARE SAM AV3 Adds Security to Smart City Applications
By Michael Ganzera and Florian Mikulik, NXP Semiconductors
More and more of daily life has become contactless. As we navigate through our lives, people around the world use devices like smartphones, wearables, and smart cards to do things like pay for purchases, enter buildings, earn loyalty points, and ride public transport. All these contactless transactions involve personal information that, if misused or stolen, can lead to serious consequences.
To reduce the risk of fraud and theft, contactless transactions need to be protected. The goal is to safeguard private data and thereby minimize the various threats. That’s why we have introduced a special IC family 16 years ago and several product evolutions since then, called the MIFARE Secure Access Module (SAM), to increase security for contactless transactions.
Dedicated Protection for Contactless Transactions
The MIFARE SAM is a secure microcontroller, based on an IC with a dedicated operating system and feature set, that stores and employs various cryptographic keys and their handling. Working in combination with MIFARE contactless ICs (which can be found inside a transport ticket or RFID key card), the MIFARE SAM is integrated in a contactless reader (for example a POS terminal, toll gate, or door lock) to help enhance transaction security by providing added protection for storage and communication functions of secure keys. The MIFARE SAM helps establish a secure connection, so contactless devices can safely perform sensitive transactions while helping to ensure that those transactions remain secure.
The MIFARE SAM is specifically designed for use with NXP’s extensive portfolio of contactless MIFARE ICs (including MIFARE DESFire, MIFARE Plus, MIFARE Ultralight, and even SmartMX solutions) and is now in its third generation.