Inside Secure launches multi-owner secure element

“With the availability of the VaultSecure IC, smartphone manufacturers, mobile network operators and other trusted third parties can co-own the SE and install, personalize and administer their own open- or closed-loop payment, access control, transit, loyalty or other secure applets,” says Inside’s Pierre Garnier.

Inside Secure's Pierre Garnier
GARNIER: Solution can “solve the control issues that have stymied the rapid rollout of mobile commerce applications”

Inside Secure has entered the secure element market with a chip that “allows multiple trusted third parties to independently install and control their own applets in the same secure element.”

“As the first GlobalPlatform 2.2-compliant secure element, our VaultSecure IC marks an industry milestone as the first device of its kind to enable secure element co-ownership and solve the control issues that have stymied the rapid rollout of mobile commerce applications,” says Pierre Garnier, executive vice president of Inside Secure’s NFC and secure payment divisions.

“With the availability of the VaultSecure IC, smartphone manufacturers, mobile network operators and other trusted third parties can co-own the SE and install, personalize and administer their own open- or closed-loop payment, access control, transit, loyalty or other secure applets.”

VaultSEcure IC also includes a new technology called “secure memory swap”, developed by Inside Secure, that reduces the memory capacity required in a secure element by allowing applets to be moved between the device’s main memory and the secure element as required.

“As others rush to provide ever greater, and ever more costly SE memory capacities, Inside Secure has taken a fresh approach with its secure memory swap technology, which offers virtually unlimited storage for applet libraries at almost no cost,” the NFC and contactless chip specialist says.

“Using advanced cryptographic techniques, the Inside Secure memory swap solution allows less frequently used applets to be securely stored in available host memory, and then moved back into the secure element memory for execution as needed based on a number of contextual factors, such as location, date and time, first tap and more.

“Thus, for example, when traveling from New York to Paris, the MTA transit fare applet in a user’s smartphone SE can automatically be swapped for the Paris Metro transit fare applet based on the new location, or a building access applet can be swapped out on weekends and holidays.”

VaultSecure IC is also the first secure element to offer a full complement of external interfaces for host connectivity to support all use cases, says Inside Secure. “These include DCLB, ISO7816-4 and single-wire protocol (SWP) interfaces for traditional embedded secure element applications connecting to an NFC contactless front end IC for NFC SIM card and NFC microSD applications and for use with connectivity combo or multicom chips containing their own NFC functionality.”

The chip also comes “with the largest and most comprehensive suite of pre-loaded and certified branded payment, access control and banking applets in the industry” says Inside Secure. These include Visa VMPA, MasterCard PayPass Mobile, First Data CertiFlash Mobile, OSPT Cipurse, HID Seos and SecureKey OneTap applets. “Inside Secure also provides the most advanced toolbox of pre-loaded NFC enablement applets for EMV white label, NFC-ID, couponing, gift and loyalty cards, closed-loop payment, transit fare collection, cryptography and more.”

VaultSEcure IC is sampling now and, says Inside Secure, “this core technology is expected to be integrated into additional solutions from the company” in the future.

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