MIKOH and Frost & Sullivan Release Electronic Vehicle Registration (EVR) Best Practices

MIKOH and Frost & Sullivan research partnership outlines the importance of
RFID tag physical security in global EVR applications

Visit the download library to access the white paper

WASHINGTON, D.C., November 13, 2007 – MIKOH Corporation (MIK.AX) finalized a Frost & Sullivan research partnership with the release of an in-depth white paper covering the importance of tamper-evident RFID tags in electronic vehicle registration (EVR) solutions.  The paper evaluates the value of physical security for RFID in EVR applications, as well as best practices for deploying EVR worldwide.

Frost & Sullivan defines EVR as the use of wireless technology, typically RFID, to automate the identification of individual vehicles.  This automation holds many benefits, including the enforcement of registration and traffic compliance.  In the U.S., registration non-compliance is estimated at five to 10 percent of all vehicles, costing the Department of Transportation up to $1.5 billion in lost revenue.  In some nations around the world, non-compliance can reach as high as 30 percent of vehicles.

“Registration non-compliance is a growing issue that must be resolved by government agencies across the globe,” said Andrew Strauch, vice president of product marketing and management for MIKOH.  “It not only detracts revenue dollars and the ability to enforce traffic violations, but also increases safety concerns for the public and law enforcement officers alike.”

The Frost & Sullivan white paper outlines global case studies and best practice recommendations for RFID-based EVR systems.  Physical security is an important aspect of the report’s findings.  On the surface, RFID systems appear capable of fulfilling EVR requirements.  However, physical security is needed to derive the intended benefit of EVR.  If the tag is not outfitted with electronic and visual tamper evidence measures, there is no way to determine if the vehicle is properly registered.

“Tamper evident RFID systems are a necessity to enable reliable automation that ensures the primary value of EVR is kept intact,” said Brendon Ouimette, research analyst with Frost & Sullivan’s AutoID and Security practice. “Unsecured RFID systems by their very nature require human verification, which defeats the purpose of EVR and eliminates any possibility to safely include additional functionality like toll collection and automatic registration renewal. Simply put, they are not suitable for complete EVR solutions.”

MIKOH’s patented Smart&Secure platform has undergone extensive testing to meet the rigorous tamper evidence demands of global EVR applications.  The technology disables an EVR RFID tag if tampering occurs, flagging officials of registration noncompliance and other legal violation.  This restricts the EVR tag from being physically moved from one vehicle to another, ensuring one-to-one mapping of the tag to an individual vehicle. 

The proven nature of MIKOH’s Smart&Secure platform has drawn increased attention from EVR deployments worldwide.  The technology is currently deployed in Bermuda’s EVR system, which leverages RFID to monitor approximately 40,000 vehicles to date.  While Bermuda remains the only nation to have implemented a nationwide EVR system, others are showing interest as well.

About MIKOH

MIKOH Corporation is a leading producer of security and digital marking products, specializing in ensuring the physical security of RFID tags. The physical security of RFID tags is increasingly being recognized as vital in most applications in this emerging industry. For RFID end users who need to protect materials, documents or merchandise from security compromises and commercial loss, MIKOH’s tamper-evident RFID technology is flexible, scalable and easily integrates into any RFID system.

 
MIKOH conceives unique security approaches, researches and develops proprietary technologies to support these approaches, patents and prototypes the technologies, integrates the technologies with other security components, and then embeds these components in commercial and government products. The company has offices in Melbourne and Sydney in Australia, and McLean, VA and New York, NY in the USA.