Security Journal UK hears exclusively from John Harvey, Head of BU Global Access Management, LEGIC Identsystems AG.
Can you tell us about LEGIC’s background in the industry?
LEGIC Identsystems was founded over 25 years ago in Switzerland. Since then, we have enabled countless companies, public infrastructure sites and governments from around the world to deploy solutions with demanding security requirements.
Our products and services are based on credential and key management, trusted services and secure, contactless semiconductors. Together, these services and components comprise our LEGIC Security Platform which provides our customers with end-to-end security for their smartphone and smartcard-based access control, mobility, shared resource and industrial IoT applications.
What are some of your latest and most significant announcements?
The availability of our newest service, LEGIC Connect Go, a mobile-credentials-as-a-service platform. The software service enables customers to easily deploy secure, high availability, mobile app-based services without their own 24/7 backend.
It is a leaner, quicker-to-deploy version of our “LEGIC Connect” platform which is already rolled out at large companies worldwide, such as hotel chains, to enable smartphone-based access control as well as infrastructure management. We are very proud that LEGIC Connect Go was recognised at the 2022 SIA New Products & Solutions Awards as “Best in Identification Management and Credentialing” at ISC West 2022 in Las Vegas.
We also upgraded our LEGIC 6000 series Security Modules firmware – they are now suitable for reader devices that must be compatible with Apple Wallet using ECP 2.0 for communication with Apple smart devices. In addition, the 6000 series now supports a symmetrical NFC antenna which provides greater RF output power which, for example, supports small transponders.
LEGIC recently acquired the XDK IoT Platform from Bosch which we are integrating into our Security Platform. It is a complete sensor node solution that will allow designers to quickly create industrial IoT solutions that can be securely configured, managed and monitored via mobile devices in both online and offline environments.
What is special about our IIoT Platform is that in addition to the monitoring of infrastructure and machines, it can log the interactions between users and industrial assets; for example, the logging of who did what, when, where and with what asset. This is particularly useful where for quality control, auditing and insurance claims purposes. We see core applications in the management of logistical processes, industrial machines and building management.
Can you tell us about the range of solutions LEGIC provides?
Security Platform: Our cloud-based software services enables smartcard and smartphone authentication of end users worldwide based on smartcard and mobile-based credentials. The platform seamlessly integrates with customer applications to enable access control, mobility, smart city and industrial IoT services based on secure end user authentication.
Security Modules: As an integral part of our end-to-end Security Platform, our 6000 series Security Modules are installed in infrastructure and are used for contactless user authentication and access control via smartcard and smartphone for buildings, vehicles, industrial equipment and ePayment terminals. They support secure RFID, NFC and Bluetooth Low Energy communications, all in a single compact 8×8 mm module. Our Security Modules support all the relevant RFID transponder technologies including Mifare, DESfire, HID, iClass standard and Felica plus Bluetooth Low Energy and NFC.
Our smartcard ICs and mobile apps allow our customers to deploy secure contactless applications used for access control, building management, logistics, industrial equipment and shared vehicles. Moreover, the smartcard ICs are used in badges and key fobs for authorised access to office buildings, schools, airports, government buildings, hotel rooms, private dwellings and more.
In addition, our earlier mentioned software platform, LEGIC Connect Go, is also our first mobile-credentials-as-a-service offering.
What are the major market trends you are seeing currently?
There is an increasing demand for contactless authentication systems across multiple market sectors driven by the growing demand for security and hygiene requirements due to COVID-19.
In general, there is a trend towards touchless smartphone-based mobile credentials and mobile authentication, either as a replacement for, or in parallel with, existing smartcard-based applications such as hotel rooms and residential access environments. In the industrial sector, the combination of contactless authentication with UWB RTLS indoor-positioning is creating a new market for indoor navigation and resource authorisation for employees, visitors and industrial robots.
What is LEGIC’s outlook for 2022?
We are seeing an increased demand for applications that can capitalise on contactless authentication technology to protect employees and users by eliminating the need for physical contact with infrastructure such as door handles, buttons, printers and vending machines as well as by limiting access to and interactions with, valuable infrastructure to authorised persons only.
We also see an increasing trend towards smartphone-based applications which require 24/7 online and offline user authentication such as shared vehicles and this is the main feature provided by our security platform.
To find out more information about LEGIC, visit: www.legic.com
This article was originally published in the June 2022 edition of Security Journal UK. To read your FREE digital edition, click here.