News
Made in IBM Labs: Two Factor Security for Mobile Transactions
October 2013 by Marc Jacob
IBM scientists have developed a new mobile authentication security technology based on the radio standard known as near-field communication (NFC). The technology provides an extra layer of security when using an NFC-enabled device and a contactless smartcard to conduct mobile transactions, including online banking and digital signatures when accessing a corporate Intranet or private cloud.
According to a recent report by ABI Research, the number of NFC devices in use will exceed 500 million in 2014. This statistic and the fact that 1 billion mobile phone users will use their devices for banking purposes by 2017* make for an increasingly opportune target for hackers.
To address these challenges, IBM scientists in Zurich, also known for inventing an operating system used to power and secure hundreds of millions of smartcards, have developed an additional layer, a so-called two-factor authentication, for securing mobile transactions.
Today many consumers use two-factor authentication from a computer, for example, when they are asked for both a password and a verification code sent by short message service (SMS). IBM scientists are applying the same concept using a PIN and a contactless smartcard. The contactless smartcard could be a bank-issued ATM card or an employer-issued identity badge.
How it works
The user simply holds the contactless smartcard next to the NFC reader of the mobile device and after keying in their personal identification number (PIN), a one-time code would be generated by the card and sent to the server by the mobile device.
The IBM technology is based on end-to-end encryption between the smartcard and the server using the National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST) AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) scheme. Current technologies on the market require users to carry an additional device, such as a random password generator, which is less convenient and in some instances less secure.
The technology, which is available today for any NFC-enabled Android 4.0 device, is based on IBM Worklight, a mobile application platform IBM acquired in 2012. Future updates will include additional NFC-enabled phones based on market trends.
