Certicom Collaborates with Texas Instruments for RFID Authentication and Encryption

Certicom Collaborates with Texas Instruments for RFID Authentication and Encryption

December 19, 2006

Certicom Security for RFID Product Authentication protects
high-value 
products against counterfeiting and ensures privacy


    DALLAS, Nov. 29 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Certicom Corp.
(TSX: CIC) today 
launched Certicom Security for RFID Product Authentication,
a solution that 
ensures authenticity and prevents counterfeiting of
high-value items as they 
move through the supply chain. In collaboration with Texas
Instruments 
Incorporated (NYSE: TXN) (TI) Certicom is using its
elliptic curve 
cryptography (ECC) expertise to add item-level RFID tag
security that 
protects product information and proves the legitimacy of
products, such as 
pharmaceuticals and other high-value consumer goods. For
products like these 
that require a high level of security, RFID solutions
providers can use 
Certicom security and TI's family of ISO 15693 RFID tags to
deliver product 
protection with authentication and encryption.  

    (Logo:
http://www.xprn.com.cn:9080/xprn/sa/20061107170439-20.jpg )

    Certicom and TI are currently engaged with companies in
the 
pharmaceutical supply chain where valuable medicines are
susceptible to 
counterfeiting, which can lead to significant asset losses
and patient 
consumer safety issues.  In tandem, they are addressing the
high-value goods 
industry where protection of brand integrity is imperative
to reducing 
product theft and diversion of goods for sale on the black
market.  Examples 
of these products range from brand-name apparel and
cosmetics to 
professionally signed baseballs, poker chips, printer ink
cartridges and 
legal documents.  

    Certicom uses standards-based and proven cryptographic
protocols for its 
RFID appliance, including a standardized public-key
cryptography scheme from 
IEEE 1363a. This efficient ECC-based digital signature
scheme enables a high 
level of security to be added to the tag without requiring
a lot of computing 
power and storage. For example, at 160 bits, ECC provides
the same level of 
protection as a 1024-bit RSA key but is approximately
one-third the size.  

    "By collaborating with Certicom, we demonstrate a
highly efficient, 
standardized security solution that delivers privacy
protection and 
authentication," said Joseph Pearson, business
development manager for TI 
RFID.  "A standardized approach is imperative to
provide a proven level of 
security, and to promote interoperability and compatibility
going forward."

    Certicom Security for RFID Product Authentication works
as a distributed 
system where there may not be dedicated Internet
connectivity to a database, 
to provide real-time authentication of a tagged product. A
simple application 
programming interface (API) enables developers to integrate
the product's 
components with RFID middleware and enterprise
applications.

    "The RFID industry is telling us that what is
needed is a security 
infrastructure that provides the smallest possible
standardized digital 
signatures, along with privacy protection features, with
integrated key 
management to meet the needs of the supply chain
constituency, especially the 
pharmaceutical manufacturers and retailers," said Jim
Alfred, director of 
product management for Certicom.  "TI has been
instrumental in providing 
their expertise and insight on the industry when it comes
to what is required 
for RFID product authentication.  This is what we are
delivering."

    Certicom Security for RFID Product Authentication will
be demonstrated at 
TI's Booth #3015 at the RFID Healthcare Industry Adoption
Summit at the 
Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, D.C., November
12-15, 2006. The 
Summit is sponsored by National Association of Chain Drug
Stores and the 
Healthcare Distribution Management Association. 

    For more information on how TI and Certicom are
collaborating on RFID 
product authentication and to view the demonstration of
Certicom's new 
security product in action, please visit
http://www.ti.com/rfidvidcast .  For 
more information on the product visit
http://www.certicom.com/rfid .

    About Texas Instruments

    Texas Instruments is the world's largest integrated
manufacturer of 
radio frequency identification (RFID) transponders and
reader systems. 
Capitalizing on its competencies in high-volume
semiconductor manufacturing 
and microelectronics packaging, TI is a visionary leader
and at the forefront 
of establishing new markets and international standards for
RFID 
applications. For more information, contact TI-RFid(TM)
Systems at 1-800-962-
RFID (7343) (North America) or [phone]
(International), or visit the 
Web site at http://www.ti-rfid.com .

    Texas Instruments Incorporated provides innovative DSP
and analog 
technologies to meet our customers' real world signal
processing 
requirements.  In addition to Semiconductor, the company
includes the 
Educational & Productivity Solutions business.  TI is
headquartered in 
Dallas, Texas, and has manufacturing, design or sales
operations in more than 
25 countries.

    Texas Instruments is traded on the New York Stock
Exchange under the 
symbol TXN. More information is located on the World Wide
Web at 
http://www.ti.com .

    About Certicom

    Certicom protects the value of your content,
applications and devices 
with government-approved security. Adopted by the National
Security Agency 
(NSA) for classified and sensitive but unclassified
government 
communications, Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) provides
the most security 
per bit of any known public-key scheme. As the undisputed
leader in ECC, 
Certicom security offerings are currently licensed to more
than 300 customers 
including General Dynamics, Motorola, Oracle, Research In
Motion and Unisys. 
Founded in 1985, Certicom's corporate offices are in
Mississauga, ON, Canada 
with worldwide sales and marketing headquarters in Reston,
VA and offices in 
the US, Canada and Europe. Visit http://www.certicom.com .

    Trademarks

    TI-RFid is a trademark of Texas Instruments.  All other
trademarks and 
registered trademarks are property of their respective
owners.


    For more information, please contact:

     Jamie Horton 
     Texas Instruments		
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]

     Lisa Courtney Lloyd
     Certicom Corp. 	
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail] 


SOURCE  Texas Instruments
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