In this day and age, retail competition for consumers takes place largely online, and moves fast and furious. Product copycats also abound – all vying for the buyer’s attention. So how can you protect your creative property against impostors? At Tagstand, we’ve collaborated with our partners at ST Microelectronics, a top semiconductor company; to come up with an effective, affordable, and elegant solution: Our ST by Tagstand line of NFC tags and the “Real or Not” app
Every NFC chip has a unique ID (UID) assigned to it. This alphanumeric code is embedded onto a chip during its production; branding it for a particular silicon manufacturer. Thus, the UID is a quick and easy way of identifying an NFC chip.
ST’s proprietary system of TruST25™ security, takes the UID to the next level. Their ST25 chips have exclusive digital signatures attached to each of the UIDs, adding an extra layer of verification. Only the chips that pass BOTH the UID and the digital signature checks are deemed legitimate.
Invalid UID
The tag features a UID not assigned to the legitimate manufacturer. Simply reading the UID will discover the substitution.
Valid UID, No Signature
The tag features a UID assigned to the legitimate manufacturer, but does not embed a digital signature. When the digital signature is requested, the tag will not answer, thus revealing the counterfeit.
Valid UID, Invalid Signature
The tag features a UID assigned to the legitimate manufacturer and embeds a digital signature, but with a digital signature not issued by the legitimate manufacturer. By verifying the digital signature, the reader can reliably determine if the UID was really issued by the legitimate manufacturer.
Valid Signature and valid (but duplicated) UID
The tag features a UID assigned to the legitimate manufacturer and embeds a copy of a digital signature issued by the legitimate manufacturer. By verifying the uniqueness of the UID, the reader can readily determine that the UID is a duplicate – hence the tag is a fake.
(*Graphics and captions from ST TruST25 Digital Signature brochure)
All of the NFC tags in our ST by Tagstand collection feature ST chips with TruST25™. These tags work in conjunction with our “Real or Not” app as an effective system for detecting counterfeits. Simply attach the tags to the items you wish to verify, and quickly scan using the app and your phone, to see their authenticity. Watch a demonstration of this in action!
The demo kit in the video uses cards embedded with different variations of UID/signature test cases; only one of which is genuine ST25 — to show how quickly and easily these tags can help you determine if a piece is truly “Real, or Not”.
Have more questions? Contact us at sales@tagstand.com We’d be glad to assist you with all of your NFC needs!