Why Use a Fully Encrypted Card Access Solution – FeliCa - Sony Make.believe

Cards such as Mifare and FeliCa, have an unique manufactures code (CSN) which until recently was adequate for normal level of access control. The CSN number is part of the manufacturing process and it used to requires a high skill level and very expensive equipment to clone chips with a specific number.

It has been possible for a while to read the card data and retransmit this, but this was again limited to a small number of experts with very specific knowledge about the card technologies.  For those applications where the security level had to be higher, encrypted cards have normally been specified.

With the success of the Internet, information sharing has totally changed. Protocols and details are available on line to any one, which already makes it easier for hackers to access.  

There are a few hacker organisations we are aware of and they publish details on how to hack the HID IClass, Mifare and many other types. This was still more of a development community and not easy to do for non experts. 

This has changed and now you can buy ready made equipment which can read the CSN of Mifare, FeliCa, HID and others. The data can then be easily retransmitted. This equipment can be bought ready made on line by anyone.

With the equipment you can easily read someone's card unnoticed (for example, in a lift) and then walk over to any door and retransmit to gain access.

An example of this equipment is available at: 

http://www.proxmark.org/

The trend in using just the CSN can cause big embarrassment for large corporate companies, if security was breached this way and was released in the public domain.

Security levels of cards and readers are becoming increasingly important because of the above statement.

An example of an encrypted Mifare card hacked is on YouTube. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8VVKnUdECgThere are a few examples on the Internet of this.

“FeliCa” has not been known to have been hacked and would be outside the scope of most people ability, if this was ever achievable due to the high levels of encryption."

Robert De'Antiquis

“Stop the Press” Sony FeliCa.. make.believe in Evolis

The latest in our Sony FeliCa growth can be attributed to the full integration into the Evolis 'Pebble printer' which allows the full encoding of FeliCa cards. This solution moves FeliCa one step closer towards becoming a true end to end solution and here at HAE has been greeted with much excitement.

This was achievable through using the free SDK tool provided by Evolis alongside their 'Pebble Printers'!

The Evolis 'Pebble' printer allows the printing of colour badges with photo resolution. Easily installable with aesthetically pleasing lines the Pebble 4 printer has a Magnetic Stripe encoder, Smart contact station encoding unit and Contactless encoding unit. These features are all superbly designed and flawlessly integrated making it the printer of the moment.

Watch this space for more developments and check out Evolis' website at: http://www.evolis.com/

Make.Believe… in Sony Global's FeliCa

Here at HAE we are excited about the continued partnership with Sony Global and the further development of the FeliCa card readers.

Why FeliCa?

Originally used in the Octopus card system in Hong Kong, the RFID smart card system, championed by Sony Japan, is a rising star in the world of security. With the encryption key dynamically generating each time the card is used, the use of mutual authentication between card and reader provides one of the most secure systems in the world. The cards are externally powered, with no battery. We are one of the few companies which have pioneered the RFID smartcard reader which reads FeliCa cards as well as CSN. This OEM product partnering with our supplier has allowed us to roll out the readers over Sony European sites.  This partnership has catapulted HAE to the forefront of up and coming technology in the security world.

The FeliCa card system itself is multi-faceted, with the same card that is used to allow access into a building also allowing the user to employ it as a health care device, a mobile wallet, or as a speedy airplane boarding device (seen at JAL and ANA).  The FeliCa system provides an ease of accessibility to the discerning card user, as they no longer have to carry a multitude of bank cards, access passes and transport cards.

This card system is truly the unique and brings the world one step closer to a bright contactless, hassle-free future.

Check out the Sony FeliCa website to see the latest news for FeliCa and the myriad of ways in which these cards can be used: http://www.sony.net/Products/felica/index.html

Sony FeliCa - will you Make.believe in Sony FeliCa?

HAE have now launched the second generation FeliCa card reader to the market place. The development of this reader has been borne with the close collaboration between both HAE and the Sony FeliCa division.

A Directors View

This continued  development has enabled  this second generation reader to now support, as standard, the 125Khz module with the following card types; Felica European and Japanese encryption,  Mifare CSN, HID ™ 125 KHz 35 bit corporate encoded cards (26 and 36 bit are also supported) , EM Marin and Temic T5567. In this ever changing world of card technology it pays to be ahead of the game.