Security of the near field communication protocol: an overview

With the booming of smartphone and wireless networks, contactless payment systems have been gradually accepted by a range of sectors and industries. Near Field Communication (NFC), as a de facto standard for radio communication, dominates this market and has accumulated many applications, such as use as a digital wallet and ticketing system, due to its convenience and versatility. The prevalent use and large cash flow of NFC have attracted the attention of attackers and criminals. In this paper, we present an overview of the security issues surrounding the NFC protocol and its applications. We investigate the existing and potential vulnerabilities of NFC, discuss effective countermeasures for mitigating these vulnerabilities, and further present design considerations for new NFC applications.