Who controls your site’s security keys?

One of MIFARE DESFire technology’s most powerful open standard advantages is letting you purchase compatible cards, tags and reader devices from several different suppliers.

Nevertheless, a crucial feature of MIFARE DESFire and similar technologies is their reliance on security keys. Security keys are how your readers and transponders recognize each other, through mutual authentication, once you program those keys into them.

It also means that whoever controls your site’s security keys could limit where your future readers and tags – to be programmed with your keys – get purchased. If you haven’t agreed upon security keys at the beginning, it could pose a problem if your supplier considers your security keys as their own property, refusing to assign them to another supplier or manufacturer if you decide to switch.

At Idesco, we don’t work like that. We always agree to whatever security key disposition our customers prefer. Either device supplier, system integrator or end-customer can define and code a site’s security keys. They can be freely changed by re-configuring the reader and, if needed, new access cards can be coded. We let you define the security keys you prefer for your readers and cards with our Idesco DESCoder programming tool. Or we can provide you a comprehensive security key service and define them for you.

Obviously, it is essential that all parties recognize who owns a site’s security keys and where they will be stored. If you choose to store yours at Idesco, we manage them according to the highest information security requirements specified by appropriate international standards. We only assign keys to another party when our customers allow and prefer it.

 

Learn more about Idesco Security Key management and other services