Leading chip data preparation solution provider joins growing MULTOS standards body

Thales and MAOSCO today announced an agreement for Thales to join the MULTOS Consortium. As a result Thales will gain an influential seat in the Systems Forum and Business Advisory Group of the MULTOS standards body. As a Systems member, Thales has voting rights over the further development of specifications relating to off-card data preparation and personalisation of MULTOS applications. Thales also gains automatic rights to implement the recently released MULTOS step/one off-card specifications for key management and data preparation of EMV and other value added applications. MULTOS step/one is the entry level MULTOS platform for financial institutions migrating to EMV – the only open standard alternative to proprietary OS EMV cards.

Thales has a significant level of MULTOS expertise. Since the launch of MULTOS as an open standard, Thales has been supplying the P3™ software and HSM solution for MULTOS Application Load Unit (ALU) generation to card personalisation bureaux and card issuers all over the world. P3 is the first data preparation product to accept input directly from the M/Chip 4 for MULTOS Customisation Utility, and to be able to generate M/Chip 4, MODS, VSDC, J-Smart and other ALUs for all types of MULTOS and MULTOS step/one cards. In the course of 2004, Thales worked with MAOSCO and the other MULTOS consortium members to demonstrate the first OneSmart Branch Issuance Solution for MULTOS, and will jointly demonstrate further smart card issuance solutions for financial and ID MULTOS projects in 2005.

Paul Meadowcroft, head of transaction security, e-security, Thales stated: “As leader in the provision of chip data preparation solutions, we already have extensive expertise in MULTOS. By joining the MAOSCO consortium, we can contribute our knowledge to the future development of the off-card MULTOS specifications for the benefit of our growing number of MULTOS customers.”

Steve Everhard, CEO of MAOSCO Ltd., said : “Thales and their P3™ product powers many of the MULTOS card issuance programmes around the world, in applications ranging from payment to national identity. The fact that Thales are the third industry organisation to join MAOSCO in as many weeks should make those who are still on the outside ask what they are missing.”

About Thales
Thales is an international electronics and systems group, serving Defense, Aerospace, Security and Services markets. The group employs 61,500 people and generated revenues of €10.3 billion in 2004.

Operating in three main markets covering e-security, card payment, and network security, Thales' e-Security activity addresses the business, government, and finance industries' need for cryptographic security products and solutions. Over half of the world's banks, together with the majority of the busiest exchanges, currently use Thales technology.

About MULTOS/MAOSCO
MULTOS is a highly secure multi-application smart card operating system specification supporting a wide range of applications including EMV, ID and other value-added applications. This open standard is managed and developed by MAOSCO - a consortium of the world's leading smart card companies - and is the only commercial operating system to attain the security requirements of ITSEC E6-high. (ITSEC is an independent and rigorous security evaluation scheme supported by more than 14 countries worldwide, whose results are openly published.) Third party software developers provide a broad catalogue of MULTOS applications and value-added services for card users and issuers that can be deployed consistently across all implementations of MULTOS. As of now, over 35 million MULTOS smart cards have been issued in over 30 countries, in projects ranging from Banking, National Identity, Campus, Secure ID and Transit.

Thales Media Contact
Scott McLean
Hotwire
+44 (0) 20 7608 4643
scott.mclean@hotwirepr.com

Claire Topping
Thales e-Security
+44 (0)1844 204156
Claire.topping@thales-esecurity.com

MULTOS Contact
pr@multos.com