Samsung’s System LSI (S.LSI) division has announced a new fingerprint security IC (integrated circuit) called the S3B512C, bringing revamped security features to the fore. This fingerprint security IC is designed for use in biometric payment cards or even employee/student identification cards.
The company said in its announcement that this IC comes with EMVCo and Common Criteria Evaluation Assurance Level (CC EAL) 6+ certification. Further, the IC is also adherent to Mastercard’s Biometric Evaluation Plan Summary (BEPS) for biometric payment cards.
Vice President of System LSI Marketing, Kenny Han said, “S3B512C combines a fingerprint sensor, Secure Element (SE) and Secure Processor, adding an extra layer of authentication and security in payment cards.”
“The S3B512C is primarily designed for payment cards but can also be used in cards that require highly secured authentications such as student or employee identification, membership or building access.”
Samsung’s S3B512C IC offers default encryption with the help of the onboard Secure Element
Samsung shared a rendering of this new integrated circuit in action, combining the SE and Secure Processor with the fingerprint scanner. This can enable card makers to bring down the number of chips required for biometric cards. It also has the benefit of providing additional real estate for card makers.
This industry-first solution by System LSI opens the doors for card makers to offer quick authentication with biometric data. All sensitive data goes through a layer of encryption thanks to the “tamper-proof” Secure Element.
Samsung’s new solution also bypasses the process of manually entering the PIN on a keypad. Since fingerprint authentication is necessary to carry out the transactions, the risk is minimal, even if you lose the card. The company is including an anti-spoofing technology on this new secure IC, making it near impossible to use artificial fingerprints.
It’s unclear when this IC will make it to biometric payment cards. But we assume it’s already under development in some form.
If the name System LSI sounds familiar, it’s because this division is also responsible for Samsung’s Exynos mobile processors. The most recent addition to the Exynos family, the Exynos 2200, has been in the news for some months. Samsung unveiled the chip last week, contrary to reports suggesting a February 2022 release. In line with older reports, this 4nm chip features the Samsung Eclipse 920 GP based on AMD’s RDNA 2 architecture. Samsung claims this enables features like variable rate shading (VRS) and ray tracing.
2022-01-25 15:05:30