Roadmap: Security Advancements

By Andreas Woerle, Analog and Digital Working Group Co-Chair, Marc Lajon, Chair of the Security Working Group, and Jean-Rémi Ruiz, Board Vice Chair at NFC Forum.

Technology has transformed our lives for decades. With every new advancement, however, comes new, malicious threats. Ensuring technology is robust, trusted and secure is paramount. Within the NFC Forum Technical Committee, the Security Working Group with Analog & Digital Working Group at different layers, define security specifications, and also provide methodology for evaluating Product NFC Controller Security.

Security features strongly in the latest NFC Forum Technology Roadmap covering three key areas:

1) Future proofing NFC security protocol against Post Quantum Computing threats

Quantum computing will redefine cryptographic security. NFC Forum is planning to assess the impact of Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) on NFC systems, considering complexity algorithms, memory, and processing power constraints.

The Technical Committee and its Working Groups are sensitive to the commercial and operational impact PQC may have on the wider NFC community, and the requirement to define suitable and realistic standards in a timely manner that is workable to the community.

The Forum aims to evolve standards, such as NFC Authentication Protocol (NAP), to ensure resilience against PQC threats and maintain secure NFC communications for the long term. As part of this initiative, integration of NAP within protocols like Tag NDEF Exchange Protocol (TNEP) is in progress to strengthen authenticated data exchange between smartphones and IoT devices.

2) Establishing a global NFC security framework

To create a consistent security foundation, NFC Forum has approved the draft specification and will be publishing its first-ever NFC Controller Security Profile Specification. Official release is expected in 2026. This profile outlines security requirements and guidance for chipset implementing NFC technology to counter recognized and potential threats.

Following on from the launch of this work, NFC Forum is developing an evaluation outline to be used by independent third-party laboratories to confirm that products are compliant against the NFC Controller Security Profile. Additionally, the Forum intends to collaborate with liaison partners to further promote this work across industries.

By creating a globally recognized security baseline, developers and vendors will have a clear reference on NFC security expectations. NFC user communities can confidently define their security needs and select products that conform to a specified, well understood standardized NFC Controller Security Profile.

3) Strengthening NFC against relay-based threats

Relay attack, where an attacker intercepts and transfers over a long distance a legitimate communication between an NFC card and reader, is a threat and poses a risk to NFC-enabled systems. NFC Forum is investigating applying the mechanism being specified by ISO/IEC 14443 to all NFC technologies to strengthen defenses against such attacks.

These improvements aim to safeguard against criminal activities such as unauthorized vehicle or building access and fraudulent transactions, including illegal payments.

While the role of NFC Forum is to develop interface specifications at the physical and data link layers rather than define application-specific security requirements, it is acknowledged that addressing relay attacks cannot be prevented by application cryptography alone.

Therefore, the Analog & Digital Working Group is researching additional protective measures at the data link layer to ensure robust security. This involves analysis and research by the industry experts within the NFC Forum member companies, as well as monitoring ISO developments.

Updates will incorporate relay attack protection mechanisms into NFC technical specifications to make relay attack protection a global standard.

Security is one of many topics featured in the NFC Forum’s 2026 Technology Roadmap. Keen to learn more? Read the press release.

NFC Forum welcomes those within the community to become members and participate. Find out more.