SK Telecom unveils fingerprint recognition security key based on quantum random number generation

By Lim Chang-won Posted : June 15, 2021, 11:15 Updated : June 15, 2021, 11:15

[Courtesy of SK Telecom]


SEOUL -- South Korea's top mobile carrier SK Telecom unveiled a fingerprint recognition security key based on quantum random number generation which is one of the most mature quantum technologies with many alternative generation methods. The security key called "EzQuant" can be in financial services, defense, online administration and smart offices.

SK Telecom (SKT) has developed a quantum security solution using the smallest quantum random number generator (QRNG) chip to generate numbers encoded in a quantum state. A quantum key distributor (QKD) delivers encoded data. 

SKT and its subsidiary ID Quantique (IDQ), a Geneva-based leader in quantum-safe cryptography, has tied up with Octaco, a biometric authentification startup in South Korea, to develop EzQuant that combined QRNG technology with a card-type fingerprint security key based on fast identity online (FIDO), a technology that performs personal authentication using biometric technology without ID or password in an online environment.

SKT, IDQ, and Octaco would tap foreign markets including the United States and Singapore this year to spread FIDO biometric security keys. "We will globally expand a service model that requires strong security certification such as finance and defense," SKT's innovation suite head Ha Min-yong said in a statement on June 15.

Endorsed through an interoperability test organized by the FIDO Alliance, EzQuant can be applied to FIDO-based services around the world, SKT said. The FIDO Alliance is a non-profit organization that develops and promotes authentication standards to help reduce over-reliance on passwords.

SKT said that EzQuant can be linked to personal computer login, in-house groupware, enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM), which were previously carried out with biometric authentication. ERP manages and integrates business processes through a single system. CRM is a process in which a business or other organization administers its interactions with customers, typically using data analysis to study large amounts of information.

EzQuant supports near-field communication (NFC) functions. NFC is a set of communication protocols for communication between two electronic devices over a distance of four centimeters or less. The security key is available in all web authentication services that provide FIDO authentication services and Windows Hello, a biometrics-based technology that enables Windows 10 users to authenticate secure access to their devices, apps, online services and networks with just a fingerprint, iris scan or facial recognition.
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