What is NFC and its use in security tokens?

NFC stands for Near Field Communication and it enables short-range communication between compatible devices. It is a set of communication protocols for communication between two electronic devices over a close distance. NFC offers a low-speed connection with simple setup that can be used to bootstrap more-capable wireless connections.

NFC works on the principle of sending information over radio waves. It is another standard for wireless data transitions. This means that devices must adhere to certain specifications in order to communicate with each other properly. The technology used in NFC is based on older Radio-frequency identification (RFID) ideas, which used electromagnetic induction in order to transmit information.

NFC requires at least one transmitting device, and another to receive the signal. A range of devices can use the NFC standard and will be considered either passive or active.

Application of NFC in security tokens

NFC tokens combined with Bluetooth may operate in several modes, thus working in both a connected and a disconnected state. NFC authentication works when closer than 1 foot (0.3 meters). The NFC protocol bridges short distances to the reader while the Bluetooth connection serves for data provision with the token to enable authentication. Also when the Bluetooth link is not connected, the token may serve the locally stored authentication information in coarse positioning to the NFC reader and relieves from exact positioning to a connector.

Are NFC security keys available?

Yes, the following are a few NFC security tokens available:

• Yubico YubiKey 5 NFC
• Yubico YubiKey 5C NFC
• Security Key by Yubico NFC
• Feitian MultiPass FIDO
• Feitian ePass FIDO-NFC
• AuthenTrend ATKey.Card
• Thetis BLE U2F