A leading Japanese operator offered assurances over the security of a contactless financial service which employs Sony’s FeliCa NFC technology after the latter warned of a potential security vulnerability.

NTT Docomo employs FeliCa in its iD financial service to enable contactless payments on mobile phones, and IC and credit cards.

The operator assured customers the FeliCa silicon employed in Osaifu-Ketai digital wallet devices used in its contactless play are not affected by the vulnerability, taking the opportunity to highlight its strict security and monitoring procedures.

“We monitor the iD service daily and if we detect any fraudulent use, we will investigate it individually and take appropriate action.”

Docomo added it is working with FeliCa developer Sony and “relevant companies” to address concerns about potential tampering.

The operator responded to a Sony statement released today (28 August) regarding a potential problem on FeliCa chips shipped before 2017.

Sony explained security staff at the Information-technology Promotion Agency in Japan raised the alarm over the potential for some chips to be manipulated to reveal data stored on them or allow it to be tampered with.

It emphasised there are broader security measures in place, and it would work with relevant public and private bodies to address the concerns.