Digital passport for linked items

Will your items soon have their own ID card? The hypothesis is not as crazy as you think, it is already true. We are currently conducting tests in the United States to verify the identities of drones and their pilots. At Civil Aviation the identity of that person is verified when they file the flight plan. For drones, verification involves inquiring into the device’s identity on the on-board chip. In fact, the principle of identity is the same for a person or an object, Explains Philip Walle, vice president of identity and digital security in Thales.

This function is far removed from events. Millions of connected cars in circulation already integrate multiple SIM cards that connect to remote maintenance services, emergency calls, downloads, and more. The service must be authorized to identify, locate or verify its access rights to the connected vehicle. This authentication is mutually exclusive, meaning the car can verify the connection service and the service downloading the new version of the software, for example, is actually authorized to connect. “Imagine what would happen if malware controlled your car at 130 km / h on the highway …”

Hologram or glow

In addition to drones and cars, billions of connected objects must be recognized by a digital identifier. The main method for recognizing objects is the digital certificate embedded in the object in question. These may include computer servers in the data center, surveillance cameras, surveillance devices in the hospital field, and thermostats.

“Recognition for particularly important spare parts or good wines can also be done using a hologram or glossy logo.” Frank Kaikan, founder of Optic IT, explains. In this case, a smartphone application will detect whether it is a coin or a bottle. “