July 2, 2012, Seoul - Infineon Technologies (Korea CEO Lee Seung-soo) announced that it will supply its security chip products for Malaysia's newly introduced national electronic identity card. This new generation smart card identity document, called 'MyKad', features Infineon's SLE 78 security controller and the award-winning Integrity Guard security technology. By utilizing Infineon's security chip products that combine this new security technology with SOLID FLASH™ technology, Malaysia has been able to rapidly deploy identity cards.

MyKad is a national electronic identity card for various purposes including biometric identification, and can implement various additional functions such as driver's license, healthcare, ATM, electronic signature (eSignature), and electronic government (eGovernment) services. Over the past several years, Malaysia has issued approximately 2 million identity cards annually. Identity cards are used over a long period and are affected by frequent use. Therefore, identity cards must meet strict standards. In particular, identity cards must be able to securely protect the cardholder's personal information throughout the period of use.

Dr. Stefan Hofschen, President of Infineon Technologies' Chip Card and Security division, stated, "Infineon has already proven the robustness and reliability of its security chip products by supplying security chips for identity card projects in several countries. The MyKad program follows industry trends by transitioning from MASK ROM-based smart card ICs to more secure and proven advanced flash controller products such as Infineon's SOLID FLASH product. These controller products meet new requirements of government and payment projects and enable reduction in cost of ownership."

Infineon's SOLID FLASH products being supplied for this project utilize proprietary non-volatile memory (flash, EEPROM) technology to enable very high flexibility while achieving excellent reliability and sophisticated security performance. These flash products, certified for security applications, offer fast delivery times enabling more rapid response to market changes, flexible product utilization, and provide multiple advantages across logistics, development, and certification procedures. All SOLID FLASH products have obtained Common Criteria certification from Germany's BSI (Federal Office for Security in Information Technology) and have received EMVCo format approval, enabling use in various types of applications and allowing for quick and flexible response to future changing requirements.

MyKad also utilizes Infineon's Integrity Guard security technology. This technology, which uses cryptographic dual CPU cores, enables security to be maintained over extended periods and can be applied to identity cards requiring high levels of security and robustness, establishing a new benchmark standard for secure electronic identity documents. With this technology, data is encrypted across the entire data path during processing. As the security controller core includes two processing units, sophisticated error detection continuously verifies that each unit operates correctly. Infineon's high-security SLE 78 product line utilizing Integrity Guard technology can be used in all major e-government applications such as electronic healthcare cards, electronic identity documents, and biometric data-based access control.

According to Eurosmart, an industry association, 240 million security chips were supplied for secure documents in 2011. Infineon holds approximately 40 percent market share of this market size. Furthermore, in 2011, Infineon was the only semiconductor company to supply security chips for electronic passport projects in the world's five most populous countries: China, India, the United States, Indonesia, and Brazil.

More detailed information about Infineon's SLE 78 product can be found at www.infineon.com/sle78.

Based on accumulated expertise in security, contactless communication, and integrated microcontroller solutions (embedded control), Infineon provides a comprehensive portfolio of semiconductor-based security products for various chip card and security applications. Leveraging this accumulated expertise, Infineon enhances security in an increasingly wireless and networked world with mobile payments, system security, and secure electronic identity documents. Infineon has been developing innovative hardware-based security solutions for over 25 years and has led the global market in this field for 14 years.

Detailed information on Infineon's chip card and security solutions is available at www.infineon.com/security.