WISeKey’s watch birth certificate on blockchain already secures over 2.5 million luxury Swiss watches Swiss Exchange: WIHN

The WISeKey watch birth certificate on the blockchain already guarantees over 2.5 million Swiss luxury watches

Geneva, Switzerland – October 16, 2020 – WISeKey International Holding Ltd (SIX: WIHN, NASDAQ: WKEY), a leading global cybersecurity company, announced today that it is one of the first cybersecurity companies in the world to use authentication two-factor combined with blockchain technology to secure luxury watches, currently protects over 2.5 million luxury watches.

Since 2010, WISeKey has partnered with luxury watch manufacturers, including Favre-Leuba and Hublot, to integrate powered semiconductor tags with its VaultIC154 NFC security element and provide brands with the ability to:

• issuing a storage device including a digital certificate of authenticity
• verify, when requested, the validity of the digital certificate of authenticity
• modify, if required, the validity status of the digital certificate of authenticity.

These tags, when placed on any product and touched by an NFC phone, securely authenticate and track the product much like a built-in ePassport and confirm the identity of the product on the BlockChain log.

“WISeKey has long been recognized as a leader in providing luxury products and other manufacturers of reliable means to protect their brands from counterfeiting,” said Carlos Moreira, founder and CEO of WISeKey. “With the addition of the WISeAuthentic BlockChain platform, we can now provide our customers with a powerful and unified way to protect their brands from the harmful effects of counterfeiting, providing greater visibility to their end consumers.”

WISeKey’s technology creates watch birth certificates, digital identities similar to birth certificates. The watch’s birth certificate is signed or “certified” by a trusted authority and contains basic information such as date and time of manufacture (birth), company (parents) and product type. This digital identity, used throughout the life of the watch, allows the watch to become a “trusted object” on the Internet, prove its identity and provide verifiable data.

The watch’s birth certificate is based on a unique cryptographic public-private key pair for each IoT device. The public key for this key pair is part of the certificate and can be freely distributed, while the private key is used whenever the IoT device needs to verify its identity or sign data to ensure cryptographic integrity. It is the private key that represents the essence of the IoT device identity.

Buying an exclusive Swiss watch is always a source of great joy and pride, but this purchase comes with the concern that the watch may have been stolen or that the watch itself may not be original. While most high-end watch brands find it extremely difficult to stop such acts, Favre-Leuba has taken steps to protect its watches. Reliable methods include the use of cutting-edge software or blockchain technology, which together with field measurements can ensure the authenticity of the watch. Also, if the watch is stolen, it can be traced, making secondary market trading difficult. This check is possible because the identity of each clock is stored in an immutable register in the implemented system.

In 2010, the first implementation of this innovative watch technology was based on a cryptographic key on a card the size of a credit card and was announced at the Baselworld 2010 event. Hublot teamed up with WISeKey to present a guarantee electronics of its watches. Each watch that left the factory was accompanied by a chip card, with the chip being activated once the watch left the factory. Once the watch was sold by a retailer, a second interaction with the chip automatically activated the warranty.

An IoT device can be impersonated by compromising the device’s private key. To protect the watch from identity theft, the digital identity of the watch is protected using WISeKey’s VaultIC hardware, specifically designed to keep the private key safe. Hackers are very creative in their attacks to obtain private keys, so hardware designed specifically to protect this identity securely is essential.

In real-world applications such as Blockchain, AI, and object-to-object communication, it is especially important to keep the private key safe using VaultIC. A good example of object-to-object communication is the case of charging stations for electric vehicles. Carlos Moreira, CEO of WISeKey, stressed: “The birth certificate of the watch is unique and cannot be duplicated or counterfeited. At the same time, the connection between the car and the socket requires the same level of authentication, to maintain secure connections and related transactions. Otherwise, if a car plugs into an unauthorized outlet, the outlet can transfer malware to the car’s operating system and allow hackers to later manipulate the car. birth of WISeKey provides the necessary security to protect devices and users. ”

WISeKey’s IoT birth certificates Blog post on Cybersecurity Tech Accord Blog signatories page provides further insights into the parallels between IoT certificates and birth certificates.

This technology was then expanded to incorporate microprocessors installed on the watch or cards that connect the watch to the phone via NFC technology, the watch can be used as a unique personal key identifier and trusted device to access the smartphone, applications and to users’ personal data and secure cloud storage. With this integration, WISeKey technology offers a unique experience of interconnected objects and strengthens security while simplifying the user experience.

WISeKey then began to integrate additional layers of authentication and security verification using a decentralized blockchain identity that allowed watch buyers to control when, where and with whom they shared the credentials stored on their watches and to authenticate these watches using a digital certificate. Fake proof of authenticity that follows the watch throughout its life by recording the history of the watch on its identity and register.

This cutting-edge technology has been implemented with Favre-Leuba AG, the second oldest Swiss watch brand renowned for its watch tools such as Bivouac and Bathy, to authenticate and protect Favre-Leuba watches and their owners.

While most people view BlockChain technologies as a vital component for securing cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, the cryptography and inherent security in the BlockChain system can be used to store information, transact and perform functions for high-demanding web-based services. security requirements for an impenetrable global reach.

The WISeAuthentic Blockchain platform integrates WISeKey Semiconductors tags based on the company’s VaultIC154 NFC security element. These tags, when placed on any product and touched by an NFC phone, securely authenticate and track the product much like a built-in ePassport and confirm the identity of the product on the BlockChain log.

About WISeKey:

WISeKey (SIX Swiss Exchange: WIHN / NASDAQ: WKEY) is one of the world’s leading cybersecurity companies that currently implements large-scale digital identity ecosystems for people and objects using Blockchain, AI and IoT while respecting Man as the hub of Internet. WISeKey Microprocessors Protects the pervasive computing that shapes today’s Internet of Everything. WISeKey IoT has an installation base of over 1.5 billion microchips in virtually all IoT sectors (connected cars, smart cities, drones, agricultural sensors, anti-counterfeiting, smart lighting, servers, computers, mobile phones, crypto tokens etc. .). WISeKey is in a unique position to be at the edge of the IoT as our semiconductors produce a huge amount of Big Data which, when analyzed with Artificial Intelligence (AI), can help industrial applications predict their equipment failure earlier. that happens.

Our technology is trusted by OISTE / WISeKey’s Swiss-based cryptographic Root of Trust (“RoT”) which provides secure authentication and identification, in both physical and virtual environments, for the Internet of Things, Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence. WISeKey RoT serves as a common trust anchor to ensure the integrity of online transactions between objects and between objects and people.

For more information visit www.wisekey.com.

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Disclaimer:

This communication expressly or implicitly contains certain forward-looking statements regarding WISeKey International Holding Ltd and its business. Such statements involve risks, uncertainties and other known and unknown factors, which could cause WISeKey International Holding Ltd’s actual results, financial condition, performance or results to be materially different from any future results, returns or results expressed or implied by such forward. – affirmations. WISeKey International Holding Ltd provides this notice 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.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to purchase securities and does not constitute an offer prospectus within the meaning of Article 652a or Article 1156 of the Swiss Code of Obligations or a listing prospectus. in accordance with the listing rules of the SIX Swiss Exchange. Investors must rely on their own assessment of WISeKey and its securities, including the merits and risks involved. Nothing contained in this document is or will be regarded as a promise or a statement regarding the future performance of WISeKey.