“Demonstrating post-quantum cryptography on a contactless security chip puts Infineon in a leading position in this field,” said Stefan Hofschen, President of the Chip Card & Security Division of Infineon. “Our security solutions rely on trusted and standardized private and public key algorithms. To better respond to security threats that are yet to come, we continuously collaborate with the academic community, customers and partners. And we push for future standards that can be executed efficiently and securely on small and embedded devices.”

Quantum computer attacks on today’s cryptography are expected to become reality within the next 15 to 20 years. Once available, quantum computers could solve certain calculations much faster than today’s computers, threatening even best currently known security algorithms such as RSA and ECC. Various internet standards like Transport Layer Security (TLS), S/MIME or PGP/ GPG use cryptography based on RSA or ECC to protect data communication with smart cards, computers, servers or industrial control systems. Online banking on “https” sites or “instant messaging” encryption on mobile phones are well-known examples.

Chip memory size and computation time are key

Security experts at Infineon’s Munich headquarters and the Center of Excellence for contactless technologies in Graz, Austria, made a breakthrough in this field. They implemented a post-quantum key exchange scheme on a commercially available contactless smart card chip. Key exchange schemes are used to establish an encrypted channel between two parties. The deployed algorithm is a variant of “New Hope”, a quantum-resistant cryptosystem also explored successfully by Google on a development version of the Chrome browser.

“The phantom of the quantum computer is keeping academia and the IT industry on high alert,” said Thomas Pöppelmann from Infineon’s Chip Card & Security Division, who has been co-developing the New Hope algorithm. “At Infineon, we are proud to be the first to transfer PQC onto contactless smart cards. Our challenges comprised the small chip size and limited memory capacity to store and execute such a complex algorithm as well as the transaction speed.” Thomas Pöppelmann and his co-researchers received the prestigious Facebook Internet Defense Prize 2016 for the development of New Hope.

In a world of quantum computers, PQC should provide a level of security that is comparable with what RSA and ECC provide today in the classical computing world. However, to withstand quantum calculation power, key lengths need to be longer than the usual 2048 bits of RSA or the 256 bits of ECC. Nevertheless, the researchers at Infineon were able to implement New Hope on a commercially available security chip without requiring additional memory space and hence a larger chip size.

Standardization bodies are expected to agree on one or multiple PQC algorithms within the next few years before governments and industries mandate the migration. Infineon is actively participating in the development and standardization process in order to enable a smooth transition and to address security challenges that may arise in the advent of quantum computers.

About quantum computers
A quantum computer uses “qubits” that can exist in any superposition rather than bits (0 or 1) in a conventional device. Consequently, certain calculations can be performed simultaneously and far faster than ever before, solving problems that would require unattainable amounts of conventional computing power today. With operations that are thousands of times faster, quantum computers offer new possibilities, for instance, for searching large databases, for chemical or physical simulations, and in material design, etc. However, this operating power may also allow the decoding of currently used encryption algorithms that are practically impossible to decode with technologies available today.

About Infineon
Infineon Technologies AG is a world leader in semiconductor solutions that make life easier, safer and greener. Microelectronics from Infineon is the key to a better future. In the 2016 fiscal year (ending September 30), the company reported sales of about 6.5 billion euros with more than 36,000 employees worldwide. Infineon is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: IFX) and in the USA on the over-the-counter market OTCQX International Premier (ticker symbol: IFNNY).

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Information Number
INFCCS201705-056

"Particularly, for airport management and operations, security and safety of passengers and staff are paramount,” said Thomas Rosteck, Vice President at Infineon’s Chip Card & Security division. “CIPURSE is the most advanced and most comprehensive open security standard currently available. The market does not accept proprietary solutions anymore – open standards broadly accepted by the industry are a must to continuously improve security, flexibility and cost efficiency of access systems. CIPURSE is consequently the solution of choice for upgrading legacy systems".

CIPURSE is an internationally supported open standard that allows to rapidly install access solutions which are particularly secure, interoperable and cost efficient. It is based on the AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) algorithm which is also used by numerous governments to protect secret information. Migration from existing RFID solutions to the advanced CIPURSE security standard is smooth and easy.

Civil aviation security is a critical requirement under ICAO

Under Annex 17, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) measures requirements related to airport access control. Accordingly, identification must be established in respect of persons and vehicles to prevent unauthorized access to airside areas and security restricted areas. The identities of thousands of airport staff must be electronically established and are subject to security zoning.

Infineon chips are at the core of the new electronic access cards

KAC’s new access control cards use Infineon’s SLS 32TLC100 CIPURSE security controller with Common Criteria EAL5+ (high) certification.The chips offer transaction times far below industry's standard transaction time of 0.2 seconds. As a result, users benefit from fast, easy and stable access to their working premises. Their personal data is securely stored on the chip. To access a specific area of the airport, the staff simply taps the card to the contactless reader at the door or gate. In a second step, the system runs a biometric authentication process before allowing entrance.

Infineon supplies a comprehensive portfolio of security chips for CIPURSE-based systems ranging from access to transport ticketing.

The Boosted NFC security module series manufactured by MPS has now been awarded the Mobile Finance Secure Element Certificate by the China Financial Authentication body of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC). The certificate is a key enabler in the move to address the fast-growing mobile payment market in China.

“Small PCB footprint and low power consumption are key success factors, especially for smart wearables,” said Wang Yanzhong, General Manager of MPS. “This is why we selected Infineon’s Boosted NFC Secure Element which comes with a unique system design and security feature lineup. A certified NFC security module will certainly push adoption of NFC payment in China and beyond.”

“Driven by the Internet of Things and always-on connectivity, mobile payment will be implemented on every smart device in the future,” said Thomas Rosteck, Vice President and General Manager of Infineon’s Secure Mobile & Transaction business. “There will be an increasing demand for new system architectures that allow for extremely easy integration of proven and trustworthy hardware security into devices. Infineon is taking the lead in the mobile payment space with innovative solutions such as the Boosted NFC secure element.”

Booster technology makes hardware security easy to integrate
With the Boosted NFC security module, hardware integration is made as easy as possible. At the core of the module is Infineon’s Boosted NFC Secure Element. It eliminates the need for a separate NFC controller which is typically required with conventional solutions to utilize card emulation functionality in a device. Thanks to the booster technology, the NFC antenna and antenna matching components are included into the package. This significantly reduces PCB footprint by more than 75 percent – when using the smallest module of the series to only to 4mm x 4mm. Apart from that, software development efforts for the NFC system integration can be cut down.

Running on a standard Java security card operating system, the Boosted NFC security module furthermore allows flexible loading of multiple Java-based applications (applets) on smart devices. The Boosted NFC security module is ideal for new product designs but can also be easily integrated into existing designs to extend functionality to include secure payment. Key element of the NFC security module is Infineon’s flagship SLE78 security chip which combines highest security performance with a storage capacity of more than 1 MB. This provides sufficient memory to securely store user credentials and run multiple applications, enabling a single device to replace a variety of cards such as payment cards, public transport tickets and online payment tokens.

Infineon joined forces with MPS, a Beijing-based secure mobile payment expert specialized in ultra-small antenna-in-package designs to deliver this product. The companies developed the NFC security module series based on Infineon’s unique Boosted NFC Secure Element.

MPS has been selected among the finalists in the “Payment Innovation” category of the Contactless Intelligence Award for its Boosted NFC security module series. The winners will be announced in London following the Contactless Intelligence Spring Conference on April 26, 2016.

Further information is available at www.infineon.com/wearable-devices

Munich, Germany – January 25, 2016 – Chip-based payment solutions are easy to use and offer higher data security than magnetic stripe cards. In 2015, China took the pole position worldwide in terms of growth for both issuing volume and the transaction value with chip-based payment cards. As one of the first foreign chip suppliers, Infineon Technologies AG (FSE: IFX / OTCQX: IFNNY) has received the “China UnionPay Security Product Certification” for its SLE77 security payment chip. China UnionPay (CUP) is the country’s domestic bank card organization established under the approval of the State Council and the People’s Bank of China. It plays an essential role in the development of China’s bank card industry: CUP is responsible for the validation of secured payment card products and issuance of certificates.

In addition, the Financial Computerization (FC) magazine honored Infineon’s SLE77 security chip with the “Outstanding Product Innovation Award”. Infineon was selected by a jury of independent industry experts. The FC magazine is the professional financial industry publication of the Financial Computerization Corporation, supervised by the People’s Bank of China.

“The Chinese payment card market has great significance for Infineon. It’s a great honor for us to be recognized by both China UnionPay and the People’s Bank of China,” said Thomas Rosteck, Vice President at Infineon’s Chip Card & Security division. “This reinforces our market position and endorses our bid to become the first choice for the Chinese banking industry: we are committed to supporting much more convenient payment services for consumers and improving financial security in close cooperation with all financial institutions and ecosystem players.”

Infineon has witnessed and participated in every paradigm shift of the payment industry in China. The SLE77 series further improves the efficiency, security and user experience of contactless solutions. In China, SLE77 has found a large installed base in cards issued by financial institutions. Among them are large state-owned banks, joint-stock commercial banks, or rural credit cooperatives.

The SLE77 series is certified according to internationally accepted security standards such as Common Criteria and EMVCo. It is ideally suited for multi-application and JAVA-based operating systems. In addition, Infineon’s innovative Coil on Module (CoM) packaging technology significantly simplifies manufacturing of dual-interface cards. At the same time it improves production yield and reliability of the card.

Furthermore, the SLE77 series plays a significant role in the field of smart transport ticketing around the world as well as in smart wearable solutions. Supporting over 100 million end users every day, it is deployed in major Chinese cities such as Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Further examples can be found in Spain, the UK, Korea and Brazil.

Further information is available at: www.infineon.com/payment

OPTIGA™ Trust E wins the “SESAMES Award” in the categories of “Best IT Security Solution” and "Golden SESAMES"

The internationally acclaimed “SESAMES Award” competition recognizes the best innovations of the year in digital security. The winners in ten different categories, selected by a broad panel of independent industry experts, were announced last night in Paris. The OPTIGA Trust E security solution from Infineon is the winner in the category “Best IT solution”. Additionally, this security solution was honored with the “Golden SESAMES” - a special category on occasion of the 20th anniversary of the awards. The “Golden SESAMESE” was voted by the full jury honoring the most impressive solution among all winners of the ten categories.

The OPTIGA Trust E is an easily implementable solution to protect capital equipment and Intellectual Property (IP) from being attacked, analyzed, copied and modified. Enhanced authentication as well as secured storage of software codes and product data improve network and supply chain management. The security solution helps manufacturers of high value goods to safeguard their IP and protect their brand through assured quality and safety of their products. Target applications range from industrial automation systems and smart home solutions to consumer and medical devices.

Highest security certificate for new SLE 78 mega memory security chip

The German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) awarded Infineon’s SLE 78 based on "Integrity Guard" technology with the highest security certificate according to Common Criteria EAL 6+ (high). The SLE 78 stands out with industry’s highest memory density of up to 1.1 Mbytes.

Large memory density on extremely small space is essential to meet the latest LDS 2.0 standard of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). LDS 2.0 requires secured storage of personal and biometric data as well as electronic visas, entry and exit stamps on electronic passports. Furthermore, to process large amounts of data as quickly as possible at border controls, the SLE 78 security controller uses the VHBR (Very-High-Bit-Rate) protocol. The VHBR protocol is compliant to ISO/IEC 14443 with a 6.8 Mbit/s data rate and improves the stability of contactless communication between the electronic passport and the corresponding reader.

Further information about Infineon’s security solutions is available at www.infineon.com/security