Atmel Corporation has announced a new RFID device designed to prevent product counterfeiting; a problem assessed at over US$600 billion* in seized fakes in 2007.

CryptoRF is a 13.56 MHz RFID device with a 64-bit embedded cryptographic engine, mutual authentication capability, and up to 16 individually configurable zones.

According to Atmel, one of the most reliable ways to protect against counterfeiters is to lock product authenticity in hardware. Atmel’s CryptoRF devices create unique “signatures” based on information that is never transmitted or allowed to be accessed in any way. The company claims that CryptoRF product labels and tags are virtually impossible to copy.

Atmel says that the devices are ideal for applications that are: 

Atmel explains that conventional RFID tags can be copied using a low cost RFID tag reader. This information can then used to create phony tags for counterfeit products. In contrast, CryptoRF devices have a 64-bit embedded hardware cryptographic engine; with 64 Kbit keys that are completely inaccessible. CryptoRF also supports a mutual authentication protocol to establish a trusted link between itself and a host reader. A unique cryptogram is generated for each transaction, so a cryptogram intercepted during a transaction cannot be used to effect a second transaction.

CryptoRF devices are now available and pricing for starts at US$0.75 in quantities of 25,000 units.

 

* The value of the seized counterfeit goods in 2007 is estimated to be over $600 billion, according to The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). Goods that are most frequently counterfeited include computer software, DVDs, CDs, perfume, athletic shoes, drugs, fashion accessories, and money orders. Counterfeiting can also involve the theft of valuable intellectual property in electronic systems, such as GPS correlator algorithms or the software that embodies the feature set of a cell phone, GPS or MP3 players.