Elevate corporate badge security with Secure Channel for smart cards

In today’s security-conscious landscape, ensuring trusted access to physical and digital spaces is essential for organizations of all sizes. Smart cards are widely recognized as one of the most secure tools for multi-factor authentication (MFA), encryption, and digital signing. These cards provide a robust solution for protecting sensitive data and ensuring end-to-end security within organizations.

Multi-faceted cards for multi-level security

Smart cards are versatile devices that enhance efficiency and user experience. When integrated into corporate badges, they can serve multiple purposes, such as visual identification, secure physical access to buildings and parking facilities, workplace amenities, such as vending machines, and digital access, encryption, and digital signing for sensitive data and transactions.

At their core, smart cards are physical authentication devices with embedded secure PKI chips that store sensitive information, such as cryptographic keys. To access these keys, users must authenticate using a PIN. This combination of physical possession and PIN-based authentication ensures multi-layered security, vastly outperforming traditional passwords in resilience and reliability.

Smart cards include these critical safeguards:

• Export protection: Data and private keys cannot be extracted from the secure chip
• Secured crypto: All encryption operations are performed within the card, preventing external observation or tampering
• Brute-force resistance: Multiple incorrect PIN attempts lock the card, requiring a PUK or admin key for reactivation

These measures make smart cards significantly more secure than passwords. Even if a card is lost or stolen, it cannot be used without the PIN, and organizations can swiftly block compromised cards to limit risks.

Secure Channel for smart card communication

While smart cards offer exceptional security, communication between the card and the client is a potential weak spot. For example, a compromised client device could expose this information during sensitive operations like exchanging PINs.

Modern smart cards with a built-in chip offer more advanced security to individual messages (Application Protocol Data Units, or APDUs) transmitted between the card and the server.

A secure channel establishes fully encrypted communication between the card and the server. It ensures that even if the client device is compromised, attackers cannot intercept, manipulate, or replay data, guaranteeing that every interaction with the smart card remains confidential and tamper-proof.

Built on the Global Platform Secure Channel Protocol, this feature ensures that confidential information stays confidential, providing unmatched protection for APDU transactions.

Our solution for end-to-end security

Our Secure Channel solution, based on smart cards with built-in NXP JCOP 4.5 chips, offers a powerful, future-ready solution for organizations of all sizes seeking to secure physical and digital access while meeting stringent global and regional regulations.

Nexus Secure Channel solution

Trusted by government organizations across Europe, it meets exceptionally high security demands by offering,

• End-to-end encryption: Protects data from the server all the way to the smart card
• Tamper-proof communication: Prevents unauthorized interception or modification of commands and data
• Malware resistance: Even compromised devices cannot access or alter card data

Want to know more?

Balancing security, compliance, and accessibility can be a challenge for organizations across industries. With the Secure Channel solution for smart cards, a part of the Nexus Workforce ID platform, organizations can enhance security while staying ahead of evolving regulations.

Ready to upgrade your security infrastructure? Future-proof your organization today!