Page 12 - Security Today, July/August 2018

Trusted Identities Providing “just the ticket” for the best possible fan experience
BAy Cesare Paciello
s soccer fans around the world prepared for this year’s 2018 FIFA World Cup, millions went to the FIFA website to order tickets so they could watch the games in person. As with all major sporting and entertain- ment events, the goal is for everyone using a ticket to
have purchased it from the authorized ticketing entity and to have a seamless experience both when they pick it up and when they present it at the venue.
Electronic Ticketing
Trusted identities make this possible. 2018 FIFA World Cup event in June and July once again has used tickets created from a combination of electronic and physical security features including RFID inlays and special security paper that, together, bring trust to the ticket issu- ance process. Repeating as this year’s “Official Ticket Producer” for the event, HID Global was responsible for creating and delivering
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JULY/AUGUST 2018 | SECURITY TODAY
these secure RFID tickets that fans could use to enter 64 matches in 11 host cities of the Russian Federation during the month-long event. The evolution of RFID ticket issuance technology has followed a path very similar to that of e-passports, which initially were exclu- sively paper-based and then transformed into a mixture of paper- and electronic-based security, including a token containing an RFID chip. This approach, combined with secure fulfillment, consignment and delivery services, ensures trusted transactions when fans pick up the tickets they’ve purchased for a major event like the 2018 FIFA
World Cup.
RFID tickets integrate numerous security features designed and
customized to prevent counterfeit and forgery. A key component is the physical token inside the ticket’s paper layers that contains the secure RFID chip. Data stored inside the RFID chip is encrypted. The chip’s purpose is two-fold: first, it contains protected data that brings trust to the electronic transaction; and second, it speeds the
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