Smartrac Technology Group has launched the new Pro series, adding to the company’s portfolio of NFC tags and inlays. The company’s NFC tag Circus Pro, equipped with NXP’s NTAG 424 DNA IC, will be the first member of the new product series optimized for highly secure product authentication.

By embedding Smartrac’s new Circus Pro – or any other future Pro inlays or tags – into physical products, customers, such as brand owners and branded product manufacturers, can turn their products into secure digital platforms, delivering value during the product lifetime from point of manufacture, through the supply chain, distribution channels, point of sales, customer usage phase, to reselling and recycling. Key applications enabled by secure product authentication are counterfeit and diversion protection, as well as exclusive content and rewards for consumer engagement and customer loyalty programs.

“As the number of connected objects is expected to reach a record 40 billion by 2022, organizations of all sizes are seeking not just feature-rich connectivity solutions, but ones that can securely protect their brand, their products, and their customers,” says Philippe Dubois, vice president and general manager of IoT Security, Smart Mobility and Retail at NXP. “Our NTAG 424 DNA sets the bar when it comes to delivering such trusted experiences and Smartrac’s Circus Pro takes full advantage of its cutting-edge security and privacy features to deliver an all new generation of NFC tags that can fight even the most sophisticated of counterfeiting attempts.”

Smartrac’s new Circus Pro inlays and tags with NXP’s NTAG 424 DNA IC’s work with all NFC-enabled devices and support real-time tag and message authentication based on AES-128 encryption on attack-resistant certified silicon. The Secure Unique NFC (SUN) authentication feature enables authentic, integrity protected and confidential data exchanges between tags and servers. This high-end security IC option offers enhanced privacy features and a sensitive on-chip data storage, protected by a sophisticated three-pass mutual authentication scheme.

Future Pro features and options will also include different security layers, allowing customers to enable secure product authentication for a wide range of needs and applications. Offering a variety of different NFC product designs, form factors and IC options for individual customer demands, Smartrac will soon introduce further Pro versions of its NFC inlays and tags such as Bullseye and Midas.

Moreover, the NFC-based secure product authentication can be achieved through a choice of verification services, in order to comply with the greatest possible array of individual customer requirements. As the secret keys cannot be copied or tampered, physical product authenticity can be proven in a highly reliable manner once the Pro inlays and tags are irremovably embedded into or attached to the physical product.