Nymi wearable biometrics with HID Global credentials power touchless workplace authentication

A partnership between HID Global and Nymi will allow Nymi Band 3.0 users to use biometrics to seamlessly open doors and authenticate to systems and devices through HID’s next-generation credential technology, Seos.

The Nymi Band provides the convenience of continuous, touchless authentication, in line with zero-trust principles and access control, with fingerprint and heartbeat biometrics, according to the announcement.

Seos enables Nymi Band 3.0 to be used beyond physical and logical access control for applications ranging from intelligent print collection, social distancing enforcement and contact tracing to contractor or visitor management, vending machine or canteen payments and secure remote working.

“Wearables are increasingly popular authentication for access to buildings, doors and assets, manufacturing systems with compliance traceability requirements, healthcare and defense markets and other hands-free applications where users may not be allowed to carry mobile devices, cards or fobs,” states Steve Currie, VP and managing director of Extended Access Technologies with HID Global. “We are excited to provide these high-assurance authentication capabilities with the Nymi Band 3.0, an exciting new wearable on the market.”

The HID Seos applet is loaded on the Nymi Band’s secure element to carry keys and encrypted firmware. Seos credentials are passed to the wrist wearables over an NFC connection, the user enrolls a fingerprint, which is then matched to the user’s heartbeat biometrics. At the start of the workday, authentication is performed with a fingerprint, and the Band detects the wearer’s heartbeat

Native support for HID DigitalPersona software enables logins to Windows machines with Seos and FIDO2 passwordless authentication. Seos credentials support the broadly-deployed HID Signo and iCLASS SE readers, HID says.

“HID Seos technology gives the Nymi Band 3.0 all the capabilities of a secure smart card, including its best-in-class cryptography that delivers superior data and privacy protection compared to other biometric and credential technologies,” explains Chris Sullivan, CEO of Nymi, in the announcement. “We believe these capabilities will fuel even faster adoption for our wristbands, which are already seeing rapid uptake in applications like pharma manufacturing with an emphasis on privacy, security and a natural user experience.”

Article Topics

access control  |  authentication  |  biometrics  |  contactless biometrics  |  fingerprint biometrics  |  heartbeat biometrics  |  HID  |  Nymi  |  Nymi Band  |  secure element  |  wearables