MIFARE DESFire – MIFARE’s Highest Security Family of Chips
MIFARE DESFire is NXP’s highest security family of chips. It offers a migratory path to universities moving from traditional magnetic stripe or proximity cards and also supports cashless campus services such as transportation, cafeteria and secure printing.
DESFire ICs are perfectly suited for solution developers and system operators to build reliable, interoperable contactless solutions with multi application smart card systems in identity, access, loyalty and logical access control. Featuring fast and highly secure data transmission together with flexible memory organization structures.
EV1
The EV1 is a very popular NXP contactless chip used in a wide range of applications. Its small size and encryption capabilities make it easy to use in various systems. It is nxp mifare desfire also widely used in transportation and access control applications. It is capable of communicating with other devices at a distance of up to 100 mm. It is also compatible with a variety of reader interfaces. The EV1 is a good choice for any application that requires a secure and reliable solution.
EV1 is backward compatible with the NXP DESFire family of chips, including the older DESFire EV2 and the EV40. This allows for a smooth transition to new technologies. It is an excellent choice for companies looking to upgrade their existing contactless systems.
It has an 8Kbyte non-volatile memory, a high speed triple-DES data encryption co-processor and a flexible application directory structure. It also supports a mutual 3-pass authentication technique together with a real-time transaction counter. Other security features include a random ID and an anti-tear mechanism. The EV1 can also be encrypted with customer-defined AES 128-bit keys and is supported by NXP’s 2GO cloud service.
The MIFARE DESFire EV3 is a successor to the MIFARE Ultralight IC and offers increased functionality while keeping the same mechanical and electrical specifications as the EV2. The EV3 features an on-chip antenna, which can be tuned for better communication with readers at a shorter distance. It also includes a new security feature called SUN message, which generates a unique and secure authentication code each time the chip is read. This makes the EV3 more resistant to cloning and other security threats.
The EV3 is also designed to support the ISO/IEC 14443-4 specification, which will enable a wider range of NFC applications. It also supports NFC Forum Type 4 tags, making it easier to integrate with mobile devices. It has a higher operating frequency than previous generations of DESFire chips and an improved cryptographic engine. It is available in a variety of formats, from a small ISO card to a key fob. Gallagher MIFARE DESFire cards and key fobs are programmable, printable and punchable and are manufactured from PVC material in an ISO format.
EV2
The DESFire IC is the most advanced, reliable and secure contactless chip in the market. It uses a 3DES or AES hardware cryptographic engine to protect the confidentiality and integrity of the data transmitted during the contactless transaction. It is a cost-efficient solution for ticketing, banking convergence card and mobile payment applications based on Near Field Communication (NFC) technology. It is a key component in the MIFARE® system, which offers complete end-to-end solutions for contactless transportation and access control.
It is a highly secured IC that has been certified against Common Criteria EAL 4. This is NXP’s most widely used contactless mifare desfire security platform, and it is used in public transit cards, bank convergence cards and a variety of other applications. It is designed for maximum reliability and speed, with an operating distance of 100 mm and a high-speed triple-DES data encryption co-processor that supports a mutual 3-pass authentication technique together with a true random number generator. It is also compatible with legacy terminals, and it includes a range of particular protective mechanisms, as well as messaging options to enhance data protection and user’s privacy.
There are several benefits to choosing EV2 over EV1. These include backward compatibility with EV1 systems, an improved read range that is up to twice as long as EV1, and new features like the Transaction Timer, which mitigates man-in-the-middle attacks by limiting how much time can pass between transactions. The EV2 chips also have a more flexible file structure than the traditional MIFARE Classic blocks, which makes it easier to design for multiple application use cases.
The EV2 is available in two, four and eight Kbytes of memory. It has a more powerful microprocessor than the EV1, and it can support an unlimited number of applications. It is backwards-compatible with older generations of DESFire, which allows a card or product developed for one generation to be used with another without having to share the master key. It also has a Delegated Application Management system, called MiSmartApp, that allows applications to be added in the field without the need for the chip to be reprogrammed.
EV3
The latest chip from the DESFire family, the EV3, offers even more security features that are well-suited to modern physical access control systems. It’s certified to a level of EAL5+, ensuring that it’s as secure as the chips used in e-passports and banking cards. It also supports a number of new functions, including a transaction timer and Secure Dynamic Messaging.
Unlike the older DESFire chips, which use a fixed memory structure with sectors that contain three blocks of 16 bytes, EV3 is based on a flexible tree-style file system. This allows the IC to store up to 28 “applications” (a kind of directories) with up to 32 files each. It can support a total of 8K of data storage, which makes it ideal for access control applications and even high-end payment solutions.
The EV3 also offers an extended read range, which means it can communicate with NFC readers at a greater distance than previous DESFire chips. This feature is especially useful for users who need to use a card at multiple places throughout the day, as it can save them from having to re-card their card when switching between work and home. It also has backward compatibility with EV1 and EV2 and can operate in ISO 14443-4 mode or as an NFC Forum Type 4 tag.
HID’s EV3 credentials use a unique hardware-enhanced security model that protects the card against attacks like spoofing, hacking and cloning. In addition to DESFire, they are secured with the Secure Identity Object (SIO) data model, which provides added key diversification and authentication signatures. This provides the highest level of protection for sensitive personal information, making EV3 an excellent choice for security-critical applications such as payment, transit and access control. In fact, it’s rapidly becoming the global standard for transportation tickets and turnstiles around the world.
