Secure Element Wallet Applet for Contactless Payment Authentication
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing mobile commerce systems face challenges in securing and managing payment applications on mobile devices, leading to risks of fraudulent transactions, security breaches, and inefficiencies in PIN management, particularly in contactless transactions.
Innovation Solution
A wallet companion applet (WCAp) is introduced to securely store and manage mobile wallet data, perform authentication, and process commands, ensuring secure transactions by maintaining a registry of payment applications and authenticating users through parity checks and passcode verifications, thereby enhancing security and efficiency in contactless transactions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If self-activation privilege is granted to each payment application, then each application can independently authorize and activate contactless transactions, but security risks increase as each application stores its own PIN in mobile device memory
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the security-critical PIN storage function from the mobile device's general memory to a dedicated secure element. Each payment application's PIN is now stored in the secure element rather than in the mobile device's volatile or non-volatile memory, thereby maintaining independent authorization capability while significantly improving security.
Solution Approach 2:
The secure element acts as an intermediary between the payment applications and the mobile device processor. It mediates the authentication process by receiving PINs from applications, verifying them against stored values, and returning authorization results, thereby isolating sensitive data from the main device memory.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple payment applications are deployed on mobile devices with individual PINs, then service providers can offer diverse payment services, but customers face the burden of remembering and managing multiple PINs
Solution Approach 1:
The secure element provides self-service functionality by automatically managing the authentication process. When a payment application needs to authorize a transaction, it sends the PIN to the secure element, which independently verifies it against the stored PIN for that specific application and returns the authorization result, eliminating the need for customer intervention in PIN management.
Solution Approach 2:
The secure element serves as a universal authentication service for all payment applications on the device. Rather than requiring separate verification mechanisms for each application, the secure element provides a unified authentication interface that handles multiple applications with different PINs through a single secure verification process.
3Ease of manufacture
If PINs are stored in the mobile device's non-volatile memory, then payment applications can be deployed without secure element requirements, but security of payment applications and mobile device is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the mobile device into two functional parts: the main device processor that handles application execution and user interface, and a separate secure element that handles cryptographic operations and PIN storage. This segmentation allows payment applications to be deployed on the main device while keeping sensitive data isolated in the secure element.
Solution Approach 2:
The secure element provides localized high-security storage specifically for PINs and cryptographic data, while the rest of the mobile device uses standard memory for application execution. This local quality differentiation ensures that sensitive data receives enhanced protection exactly where it is stored, without requiring the entire device to have secure element-level security.
4Productivity
If reader modules communicate with payment applications without authorization, then contactless transactions can be processed quickly, but fraudulent transactions and data compromise risks increase
Solution Approach 1:
The secure element performs preliminary authentication before allowing any communication between the reader module and payment applications. When a contactless transaction is initiated, the secure element first verifies the reader module's authorization credentials and the payment application's PIN, establishing a secure session before any data exchange occurs, thereby maintaining both speed and security.
Data Source
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AI summary
Systems, methods, and computer program products are provided for securing and managing applications on a secure element. Mobile wallet data is stored in at least one memory. Authentication data is received from a mobile wallet. A determination is made as to whether the authentication data is valid, based on a comparison of the authentication data and the mobile wallet data. If the authentication data is valid, processing of one or more commands is enabled. A first command is received from the mobile wallet. A determination is made as\ to whether processing of the first command is enabled, and if the first command is enabled, the first command is processed.