SCM Microsystems Introduces ConCERTO for Converged Logical and Physical Access

SCM Microsystems, a business unit of Identive Group, Inc. and a leading provider of solutions for secure access, secure identity and secure exchange, introduced ConCERTO, an innovative solution that allows the rapid and cost-effective addition of logical access security to existing physical access systems.

The new solution combines SCM’s new ConCERTO LOGON Manager, the Company’s SCL series contactless card readers, and the widely used MIFARE DESFireTM EV1 platform from NXP Semiconductors (NASDAQ: NXPI) to enable a single credential to be used both for building access and PC/network logon.

“Increasingly, physical presence is a pre-condition for accessing data from a corporate network. For enterprises that already have a physical access system in place, the challenge is to protect their IT assets with logical access security that utilizes the same user credential and all the data associated with it. This can be a complex and expensive process. SCM’s ConCERTO solution is an innovative, quick and cost-effective approach to combining logical and physical access that eliminates many of the barriers to a highly secure, integrated access management system based on one single credential,” explained Dr. Manfred Mueller, executive vice president of Identive Group and CEO of SCM Microsystems.

The ConCERTO LOGON Manager and dedicated SCM hardware work together with the data structure on the MIFARE DESFire EV1 platform to enable employees to use one identification card (credential) both to physically access the building and log on to the company’s network.

Based on Microsoft Windows, ConCERTO LOGON manages the enrolment and logon process for users, including writing privileges onto the cards when they are issued and saving data onto Windows or the company’s network systems for subsequent lookup and verification. Consequently, the physical presence of an employee can be verified before allowing access to the company’s network. ConCERTO LOGON also keeps each logon transaction protected using AES-128 encryption, which is the preferred method of the National Institute of Security and Technology (NIST) for encrypting contactless communications. Users’ data is additionally protected on the NXP chip, further minimizing the risk of data theft.

“We believe that state of the art access management systems should be based on Common Criteria certified ICs and rely on verified and open cryptographic algorithms for increased security,” said Henri Ardevol, vice president and general manager of secure transactions, NXP Semiconductors. “NXP’s MIFARE DESFire EV1 is a proven platform that meets these requirements, and opens the possibility to support multiple applications on a single card.”

ConCERTO LOGON Manager is available beginning in late December 2010, and available product bundles will include both desktop and mobile offerings.