Adding backdoors at the chip level — Schneier on Security — “In this paper we propose an extremely stealthy approach for implementing hardware Trojans below the gate level… we insert our hardware Trojans by changing the dopant polarity of existing transistors. Since the modified circuit appears legitimate on all wiring layers (including all metal and polysilicon), our family of Trojans is resistant to most detection techniques.”
Author archive:
Apple Pay to add support for transit cards?
Apple Pay is set to add support for closed loop transit cards, issued by public transportation operators, information found in the code of the latest version of iOS suggests... More
Meet NFC World’s partners at Mobile World Congress
NFC World partners Antelop Solutions, Dejamobile, Rambus and STMicroelectronics will be at Mobile World Congress 2018 in Barcelona from 26 February to 1 March... More
Rambus explains how tokenization can add security to healthcare, ID, the blockchain and more
Tokenization has the potential to increase the security of a wide range of applications beyond payments, from healthcare to social security, logical access control and blockchain applications, Rambus explains in a new ebook which is now available to download from the NFC World Knowledge Centre... More
US regulators simplify licensing process for fintechs
State regulators take first step to standardize licensing practices for Fintech payments — Conference of State Bank Supervisors — “Seven states have agreed to a multi-state compact that standardizes key elements of the licensing process for money services businesses (MSB). The agreement: If one state reviews key elements of state licensing for a money transmitter — IT, cybersecurity, business plan, background check, and compliance with the federal Bank Secrecy Act — then other participating states agree to accept the findings… Other states are expected to join this compact.”
GlobalPlatform explains the role of standards in an increasingly diversified payments landscape
The increasing diversity of devices, services and players in the mobile payments ecosystem has led to the need for standards and certification to manage fragmentation, prevent fraud and ensure consistent user experience, GlobalPlatform’s Gil Bernabeu explains in a new paper now available to download from the NFC World Knowledge Centre... More
Consumers call for biometric logins to financial services apps
IBM Future of Identity study: Millennials poised to disrupt authentication landscape — IBM — “Security was vastly ranked as the top priority for banking, investing, and budgeting apps — for these categories on average 70% selected security as the top priority, with 16% selecting privacy, and 14% selecting convenience… 44% ranked fingerprint biometrics as one of the most secure methods of authentication; passwords and PINs were seen as less secure (27% and 12% respectively).”
Researchers demo continuous user authentication system for smartphones
Russian experts submit ‘impenetrable’ smartphone protection system — Phys.org — “The advantage of the new method by the specialists from MEPhI is continuous protection from outside interference without any additional action by the user… Each person has a unique and inimitable style of handling the phone, and the system is based on identifying these unique characteristics.”
Stripe: Bitcoin is now too slow and too expensive to be viable for payments
Ending Bitcoin support — Stripe — “Transaction confirmation times have risen substantially; this, in turn, has led to an increase in the failure rate of transactions denominated in fiat currencies. (By the time the transaction is confirmed, fluctuations in Bitcoin price mean that it’s for the “wrong” amount.) Furthermore, fees have risen a great deal. For a regular Bitcoin transaction, a fee of tens of US dollars is common, making Bitcoin transactions about as expensive as bank wires.”
Westpac adds support for Amazon Alexa
Westpac taps into voice technology with Amazon Alexa Skill — Westpac — “Westpac customers can now access their account balance, recent spending history, and reward points status with Alexa… Westpac customers who have enabled the skill and linked to their Westpac account can ask a range of questions relating to their account balance and last 50 transactions.”
JCB to trial biometric technology that uses visible light to read palm prints and vein patterns
JCB to test multipurpose biometric authentication for potential launch of authentication and payment scheme using visible light palm authentication — JCB — “JCB will be running a trial of multipurpose server-based visible light palm authentication in February at JCB headquarters in Tokyo, Japan… The trial will focus on testing technical aspects during the registration and payment flow: capturing customer palm print and vein patterns with a smartphone camera, storing the patterns on a server, performing authentication, and returning the results to the smartphone.”
Hasbro picks NXP chips for new NFC music mixing game
NXP powers NFC experience in Hasbro and Harmonix’s dynamic music-mixing game Dropmix — NXP — PARTNER NEWS — “This fast-paced, music-mixing game empowers players to create unique mixes with hit songs by playing NFC chip-enabled cards on a game board connected to a free mobile app… The board reads up to five Dropmix cards at a time, and the proprietary software in the app seamlessly combines the music within each card to create a unique mix.”
Rambus forecasts omnichannel tokenization and ‘merchant pay’ as key trends for 2018
PARTNER NEWS: 2018 will see the emergence of omnichannel tokenization, a wealth of new payment use-cases such as connected cars, and the rise of ‘merchant pay’ — retailer issued mobile wallets — according to Rambus... More
Forum publishes updated NFC technical specs
NFC Forum publishes 2017 technical specification release — NFC Forum — “The 2017 Technical Specifications Release comprises 21 new or updated near field communication technical specifications… The specifications feature the latest NFC technology and usability upgrades that significantly impact and advance functionality in a number of key areas for consumers and businesses.”
Meet NFC World’s partners at Trustech
NFC World partners Antelop Solutions, Dejamobile, HID Global, NXP, Okey Co and STMicroelectronics will be at Trustech in Cannes, France from 28 to 30 November... More
Carnival explains how its NFC and BLE devices will power next-generation cruise ship guest experiences
Carnival Corporation’s Michael Jungen explains how the world’s largest leisure travel company will use its new NFC and BLE-enabled Ocean Medallions to provide guests with a wide range of personalized, next generation services on board its cruise ships in an in-depth paper which is now available to download from the NFC World Knowledge Centre. More
Researchers develop continuous biometric login for smartphones
NSF grant to develop one-handed smartphone authentication — Illinois State University — “The interactions, such as strokes, that users make with their thumbs when working with smartphones can be very unique,” said Lai, who is an assistant professor in the School of Information Technology. “We can use these interactions to identify different users. This is what we call thumb biometrics.”
UK challenger bank Starling adds support for Fitbit Pay
Digital challenger bank Starling is the first to support Fitbit Pay in the UK — City AM — “Customers of digital challenger Starling will be able to pay using their Fitbit smartwatch as it becomes the first bank in the UK to support Fitbit Pay… Starling added support for Apple Pay, which works on both the Apple Watch and iPhones, over the summer and Android Pay in September.”
Rambus to demo mobile payments, tokenization and HCE solutions at Money20/20 USA
Let’s talk about mobile payments @ Money20/20 — Rambus — PARTNER NEWS — “We will be at booth 833, showcasing a range of mobile payments products, including our Unified Payment Platform, as well as our Token Service Provider and Host Card Emulation (HCE) solutions… Interested in learning more? You can arrange a meeting with a member of the Rambus team at +31 10 885 10 10 or contact us via email.”
Eftpos brings Apple Pay debit payments to Australia with Rambus tokenization technology
PARTNER NEWS: ANZ has become the first bank in Australia to enable customers to use Apple Pay to make mobile payments using the country’s Eftpos national debit payments network... More
