Electronic Passports

Electronic passports containing citizen biometric data are the next line of defence in securing borders against organised criminals and terrorists. Contactless chips embedded in ePassports carrying digitised passport data, facial, fingerprint or iris biometric data, enable automated passenger clearance at border crossings, increasing convenience for travellers, whilst minimising risk.

Why do Governments choose MULTOS for ePassport?

The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) have developed a new specification for ePassport chips that defines the use of the ISO 14443 contactless interface, passport and biometric data structures, authentication mechanisms and data signing using public key cryptography. In contrast to the many "native" ePassport operating systems, the ePassport applications developed for MULTOS provide the most flexible, secure and future proofed solutions.

Future proofed

As ePassports standards emerge, and new functional requirements such as eVisas develop, MULTOS provides Passport issuing agencies with a future proofed solution that can be securely updated during the 10 year lifespan of the travel document.

Flexible open standard platform

Contactless MULTOS chips ranging from 36K to 128K E2PROM memory are available on a variety of silicon platforms including Keycorp's MULTOS on Infineon silicon, Samsung SDS MULTOS on Samsung silicon, DNP/Hitachi MULTOS on Renesas and NXP silicon, and available soon from Texas Instruments on their RF360 Smart IC Platform for Government IDs. Contactless MULTOS inlays are available from a number of inlay manufacturers, including Smarttrac, Arjo Wiggins, and ASK. The MULTOS type approval process ensures full interoperability between products, so passport suppliers and issuers can easily multi-source their ePassport chips.

Consistent security

MULTOS chips are evaluated to a consistent level of security against defined security targets, ensuring integrity of the identity document throughout its lifecycle.