When as much as 3.3 percent of the world’s economy is taken up with counterfeit products, it has never been more important that consumers and businesses alike are able to quickly and effectively authenticate the products they buy and sell.
The good news is that it is increasingly the case that technology is enabling us to do just that and do it in record time.
Naturally, you are probably wondering what is the most effective form of credible product authentication currently available to you, so let’s take a look at that question right now.
What is credible product authentication?
When it comes to credible product authentication methods, you should be looking for something that it is really difficult for the counterfeiters to reproduce in any meaningful way because that is the only way you are going to be sure that the goods you are buying or distributing are the real things. Some old style technologies like holograms and Luminescent topcoats may no longer be your best bet.
With that being the case, there are only really two credible product authentication products that spring to mind:
- Blockchain product authentication
- NFC products tags
Both of these options are very effective because they are both near impossible to counterfeit, so let’s take a deeper look at both.
Blockchain product authentication
Blockchain product authentication uses a unique digital system to ensure that all of your products come with a digital audit trail that cannot be changed or modified or even hacked into in any way.
Basically, every single piece of data that is entered into the blockchain has its own unique cryptographic, known as a hash, assigned to it, which means it is possible for anyone to instantly look it up and see if it is authentic to any given company or not, and since it is not possible to hack into the blockchain and make any changes, it is a pretty foolproof way of doing things.
NFC product tags
Near Field Communication technology is similar to Bluetooth in that it can connect with and exchange information with devices that are close by. It is the same technology that your phone and credit cards use when you pay using ApplePay or similar solutions, so you can be assured that it is a very safe and effective technology to use, even when sensitive data is involved. Many businesses are using this technology to create unique product tags which contain the kind of information mentioned above, which cannot be changed or altered in any way, so they can be quickly scanned, read and verified in no time at all.
Which is most effective?
As you might already have guessed, in order to provide credible product authentication, you really do need to combine blockchain product authentication with NFC product tags. Using blockchain technology to create the digital “paper trail” and NFC product tags to make it easily scannable and verifiable, you can provide a very strong level of protection on all of your products.
