Mobile Identity - Reveal yours !

Last week, Nice became the centre of the digital identity world with not only one but four related conferences on the French Riviera. I would like to share three important developments with you.

• GSMA Mobile ID Programme
• Mobile ID Technology
• TEE standard

GSMA launches strategic Mobile Identity programme

On Tuesday, the GSMA launched the Mobile Identity programme as a top level initiative.  Mobile operators now have a window of opportunity to become the trusted identity service providers of the Internet. The participation at Tuesday’s launch was higher than anticipated; both mobile operators and solution vendors presented their experiences and expectations. The sicap Mobile Ink business unit was happy to sponsor this important event. See Mobile Ink in action on YouTube. 

Standards-based mobile identity technology readily available

Presentations at both the GSMA gathering and at the Worlde-ID conference showed that mature mobile identity products are available today from several vendors. ETSI-standard-based (TR 102 203 and related specifications) Mobile Signature Service Platforms (MSSP) drew a lot of attention. These solutions use currently the SIM card as secure element. In Switzerland, Swisscom, a renowned innovator, launched their “Mobile ID” service on 3^rd September. All operators in Moldova are in the process of introducing interoperable mobile e-ID solutions in support of e-government as well as commercial services. In Finland, all three operators launched Mobiilivarmenne, a mobile signature service for the general public. 

TEE standard protects mobile screens and keyboards from skimming

A number of presentations at the Chip-to-Cloud conference focused on the Trusted Execution Environment as defined by the Global Platform organisation. The TEE is an additional security layer on mobile devices (complementing the tamper-proof secure element), which can control for example the touchscreen of a smartphone, preventing any potential malware from intercepting a user dialogue. While MSSP based solutions are already the most secure on mobile devices, the TEE helps to further raise their security level to that of smartcard solutions. The apparently broad support of TEE by device manufacturers is promising. 

As a final note for mobile operators involved with or planning NFC services: The SIM cards required for NFC solutions are precisely the same as those required for Mobile Signature solutions. The ecosystems for NFC and mobile signatures have great potential to catalyse each other. Commercialising an NFC service lowers the Mobile ID barrier down to mere registration and vice versa.  Although initially, the people highly interested in NFC may not be the same as those interested in Mobile ID; it can be expected that either of the two businesses will be able to drive interest in the other. 

Marc Printz

Mobile Identity expert & Mobile Ink Product Manager at sicap