Top 5 reasons why migrating from MIFARE Classic to MIFARE Plus 18. December 2013

1. Better support using MIFARE Plus

The MIFARE reader infrastructure is based on >100million MIFARE reader ICs shipped. MIFARE products are used in 650 major cities for transportation systems.  Without any functional change, MIFARE Plus is working on level 1 in the MIFARE Classic mode, so no change of the infrastructure is required.

2. MIFARE Plus makes MIFARE Classic installations secure

The product is running on MIFARE Classic level (level 1) while the infrastructure can be upgraded to AES based security in the meanwhile. In the transition phase, the infrastructure can accept MIFARE Classic, MIFARE Plus and MIFARE Plus in AES mode. Old and less secure cards can be phased out over time. It’s a true seamless migration from MIFARE Classic to common criteria certified MIFARE Plus security.

3. MIFARE Classic is becoming less secure

MIFARE Classic hacking tools are unfortunately becoming broadly available in the public domain. There are cards available which can even program a unique ID into the clone IC. With NFC phones hundreds of million people have MIFARE readers in their pocket which makes tools easily available to everyone.

4. MIFARE Plus is supported by leading system integrators

MIFARE Plus is the most common solution for all MIFARE Classic systems which want to upgrade their security with minimal effort. More than a dozen of the largest system integrators have MIFARE Plus solutions ready for adoption.

5. MIFARE Plus growing fast

With recent roll-outs in Moscow and São Paulo, MIFARE Plus is now installed in more than 70 major cities worldwide and has become a fast-growing MIFARE product due to high-security level at a very reasonable cost. It is a benchmark product in performance, security, privacy and multi-application support. Moreover, it is supported by implantations on SmartMX, banking convergence products, embedded secure elements offered by NXP and MIFARE licensees.