WISeKey and Japanese Toppan Printing Team Up to Securely Connect Inert Objects to the Internet

WISeKey and Japanese Toppan Printing Team Up to Securely Connect Inert Objects to the Internet

WISeKey’s VaultIC NFC security module combined with Toppan’s smart tag technology provides objects with secure data processing capability for authentication and customer engagement

WISeKey International Holding Ltd (WIHN.SW) (“WISeKey”), a Swiss based cybersecurity and IoT company, and Toppan Printing Co., Ltd (“Toppan”), the global printing company involved in the security business for more than a century, today announced that they are collaborating to provide the industry with versatile smart tags that allow any object to securely authenticate and communicate online.

In 2017, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the International Trademark Association (INTA) commissioned Frontier Economics to write a report about The Economic Impacts of Counterfeiting and Piracy.  The report estimated that the value of the international trade in counterfeit and pirated products will grow from US$461 billion in 2013, or as much as 2.5% of all international trade, to US$991 billion in 2022. It also estimated that the total scale of domestic production and consumption of counterfeit and pirated products will grow from US$249 – US$456 billion in 2013 to US$524 – US$959 billion in 2022. Although already dramatic, these estimates do not take into consideration other wider economic and social costs such as loss of jobs, Foreign Direct Investment, and fiscal revenue.  

Aiming to decrease these figures, this collaboration will combine WISeKey’s expertise in Internet of Things (IoT) security with Toppan’s deep roots in secure printing and anti-counterfeiting.

WISeKey Semiconductors inherits more than 25 years’ experience delivering secure semiconductors that protect sensitive data for governments and private corporations. Among other applications, WISeKey’s chips are widely used by global telecommunication manufacturers and healthcare organizations as well as Visa/MasterCard bank cards.  The same certified technology is now available in WISeKey’s VaultIC lightweight hardware security modules.  VaultIC chips provide a powerful anti-counterfeiting tool by enabling cryptographic security to identify any item online using contactless Near Field Communication (NFC) with an Android or Apple iOS based smartphone.

Toppan provides a complete suite of security printing technologies through the company’s century-long leadership in printing passports, identity cards, banknotes and other secure documents. More recently Toppan has extended the use of these technologies for anti-counterfeiting protection of branded goods. Similar to the way NFC secure elements are embedded in e-passport covers, Toppan also designs specific tags for a robust integration in any packaging such as wine or spirit bottles, cosmetics and perfume boxes and luxury goods. This is a natural complement to WISeKey’s expertise.  

“Counterfeit goods often lead to bad user experience in addition to dramatic loss of revenue for companies and significant socio-economic costs for economies,” said Olivier Debelleix, Director of Brand Protection & Wearable Security Business Unit for WISeKey. “WISeKey’s technology brings anti-counterfeiting labelling into the Internet age. Our collaboration with Toppan leverages our respective strengths in new geographic markets and applications.”

“The durability and counterfeit-resistance of Toppan’s security printing solutions are trusted all over the world,” said Tomoji Isaka, Sales Manager for Toppan Europe. “WISeKey’s VaultIC cryptographic module will further increase the security levels we provide our customers to protect their assets.”

About WISeKey:

WISeKey (SIX Swiss Exchange: WIHN) is a leading global cybersecurity company currently deploying large scale digital identity ecosystems with a patented process. WISeKey’s Swiss based cryptographic Root of Trust (“RoT”) provides secure authentication and identification, in both physical and virtual environments, for the Internet of Things, Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence. The WISeKey RoT serves as a common trust anchor to ensure the integrity of online transactions among objects and between objects and people. For more information, visit www.wisekey.com.

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About TOPPAN Printing:

Toppan Printing is one of the world’s leading integrated printing companies. Since its founding in 1900, Toppan has expanded its operations significantly while driving the evolution of printing technologies and combining them with marketing, IT, creative capabilities and diverse processing techniques to enable a wide range of solutions in fields that extend beyond conventional printing, such as marketing, content, secure solutions, packaging, décor materials, and electronics. Toppan employs more than 45,000 people globally and recorded sales of over 1.4 trillion in the year ended March 31, 2017.

For more information, visit http://www.toppan.co.jp/english/. 

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This communication expressly or implicitly contains certain forward-looking statements concerning WISeKey International Holding Ltd and its business. Such statements involve certain known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which could cause the actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements of WISeKey International Holding Ltd to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. WISeKey International Holding Ltd is providing this communication as of this date and does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements contained herein as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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