Risk Analysis of Over-the-Air Transactions in an NFC Ecosystem

The instance of the platform manager (PM) also referred to as trusted service manager (TSM) is vital for the near field communication (NFC) ecosystem. Instead of issuing physical cards, the platform manager distributes the smartcard applications to the NFC devices over a wireless network. Therefore the platform manager has to meet high security standards like those of an ordinary smartcard issuer, producing, personalizing and distributing smartcards. As the applications are loaded post-issuing, the certification of these applications, like credit cards, is not yet possible. But front up a certification of the PM as well as the process is needed, to ensure availability and integrity of the service. This is the base requirement for the certification of the distributed applets. The first necessary step for a fruitful protection profile is a risk analysis of the infrastructure and components involved from a security point of view, which is provided to the readers of this paper.