Eurosmart warning: 'Don't choose personal password 123456'

Setting the scene for this year’s World Card Summit, CARTES Network Exhibition Director Isabelle Alfano stated that the changes brought about by smart cards “could be more significant than those brought about by the Internet revolution”.
November 20, 2013 Read time: 1 min
‘Significant change’: Isabelle Alfano. Right: Oyvind Rastad: ‘replace passwords’
Setting the scene for this year’s World Card Summit, CARTES Network Exhibition Director Isabelle Alfano stated that the changes brought about by smart cards “could be more significant than those brought about by the Internet revolution”.

However, the challenges faced in bringing security to a very fast-growing sector were highlighted by Eurosmart’s Chairman Oyvind Rastad: the most commonly used personal password in the world is 123456, he said, with “more security-conscious individuals” opting for 12345678.

The solution, Rastad continued, is to replace passwords with fully end-to-end security solutions. The magnitude of the need is underscored by the fact that 7.7 billion smart secure shipments are expected in 2014. Rastad’s comments set the scene for an enlivened debate over Opportunities and Threats for the Secure Digital Industry.

Alex Green, Senior Research Director at IHS, led a panel including Morpho’s Phillipe d’Andrea, Giesecke & Devrient’s Axel Deininger, Infineon Technologies’  Stephan Hofschen, Oberthur Technologies’ Didier Lamouche, NXP Semiconductors’ Steve Owen and Gemalto’s Olivier Piou.

Related Content

  • CARTES looks at privacy in the digital society
    November 3, 2014
    US whistleblower Edward Snowden made millions of people aware of just how closely governments are scrutinising their private affairs. Nobody objects to law enforcement agencies uncovering terrorists’ funding sources, but the idea that bureaucrats can look into ordinary citizens’ financial and personal affairs makes many uncomfortable. The thought that criminals can do the same is even more alarming.
    Read More
  • Apple and Google poised to invigorate NFC market
    July 9, 2014
    The market for contactless payment is growing, explained Pierre Metivier from the Forum Services Mobiles Sans Contact, at the official launch of CARTES SECURE CONNEXIONS 2014 in Paris. “Smart secure devices are on the rise,” he said. “The majority of these are smartphones and payment cards, but – if you add in to the mix products such as smartcars and even smart utility meters - there will be 200 billion connected devices by 2020,” adding up to a projected global internet of things (IoT) market by that time
    Read More
  • Harnessing the power of smart technology
    June 28, 2018
    Keeping the public safe in a changing world requires smart thinking and sensible deployment of technology. Peter Jones of Hitachi Europe examines some available options From human threats, such as terrorism, to digital threats like hacking, the growing sophistication of crime is posing serious challenges to public safety. At the same time, mass urbanisation threatens to exacerbate these problems as there are more people to keep safe. According to a new whitepaper from Hitachi and Frost & Sullivan, Public
    Read More
  • The connectivity congress
    October 22, 2012
    By the time this 19th ITS World Congress officially ends on Friday with Plenary Session III and the Closing Ceremony, over 1,000 presentations will be have been made through the huge programme of sessions - Executive, Special Interest, Technical/Scientific, and Interactive sessions. However, it is the three plenary sessions that will encapsulate this whole event and its legacy. The theme of the year’s ITS World Congress is ‘smarter on the way’. The stated aim is that all citizens and businesses have at al
    Read More

Highlighted Content