Electronic tickets - securely

Get in and go - electronic tickets for public mass transit make it possible. But what about security? A solution by T-Systems provides protection from misuse and forgery.

A growing number of transportation companies are offering a new electronic ticket service - either via cell phone or with a plastic card. But similar systems - such as credit and calling cards - have shown that security has to come first. Passengers need to know that their "tickets" have not been manipulated. And companies need to know that no one is able to forge cards or extend their expiration dates themselves.

That is why T-Systems has set up a central security management station for electronic tickets for VDV Kernapplikations GmbH & Co. KG at the T-Systems Trust Center. "At the heart of the system are cryptographic codes, i.e., numbers that are stored electronically. These are generated and managed by our Trust Center," explains Project Manager Stephan Wollny.

The transportation companies need these codes to generate electronic tickets. The codes are then stored on plastic cards and, in the future, will be stored on cell phones and other devices as well. The transaction is not secure until the certificates provided by the Trust Center are put to use. These certificates basically function as ID cards, which all of the system's components use to authenticate one another. "All benefit from the new tickets and are on the safe side," confirms security expert Wollny.