Bosch Subsidiary relies on the T Cloud Public for product protection

In this article, you will learn:

• how the Origify solution makes products tamper-proof through smartphone-based authentication,
• why Bosch Secure Authentication chose T Cloud Public
• and what role sovereignty, availability, and dedicated support played in that decision

From coffee capsules and car parts to luxury watches and medicines, counterfeit goods are a major global problem. According to a study by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), product piracy causes approximately €16 billion in losses annually in the European Union alone. The resulting loss of revenue costs affected companies tens of thousands of jobs. In addition, many counterfeit products have significant safety deficiencies and can even be life-threatening. Bosch Secure Authentication GmbH has set out to combat this problem with a groundbreaking solution.

"We use the microstructure of the surface as an unmistakable recognition feature," explains Oliver Steinbis, General Manager at Bosch Secure Authentication GmbH. No label, QR code, or marking is required. A smartphone photo is all it takes for Origify to identify a product based on its unique surface structure. The system stores this tamper-proof optical reference in the cloud.

Users, ranging from customs officials to end customers, can later photograph the product using a smartphone app. The product must first be registered in the system: each individual item is photographed, assigned a unique digital reference, and stored in the database. During a subsequent authentication check, a new photo is compared against the stored reference. This allows users to quickly determine whether the product being tested matches the originally registered item. The same approach can be used to verify the authenticity of identity documents and banknotes. It also enables authentication of products that are too small, too sensitive, or too cost-effective to justify elaborate labeling. "We are convinced that trust will become a digital property of every physical product. Origify creates the technological foundation to make exactly that possible," says Steinbis.

For a global service that processes sensitive product data, selecting the right cloud platform is a strategic decision. An in-house solution was reaching its limits in terms of global scalability and flexibility. U.S. hyperscalers were also not considered viable: "If we look after a German company, it does not want its data to be the responsibility of the USA," says Steinbis. Customers required assurances that sensitive data would remain within their country's jurisdiction—a promise that is often qualified in the fine print of some providers' contracts.

The Bosch subsidiary therefore chose T Cloud Public. As Europe's answer to global hyperscalers, it is based on the open-source OpenStack standard and combines the scalability of a public cloud with strict sovereignty requirements. With data centers located exclusively in Europe and GDPR-compliant operations, it provides companies with the legal certainty they need in highly regulated industries, from the public sector to healthcare.

Deutsche Telekom can contractually guarantee where Bosch Secure Authentication's data is stored and who has access to it. "At Deutsche Telekom, I know that if I say that the data will stay in Germany, it will stay there," says Steinbis. This enables the company to serve customers in highly regulated industries such as pharmaceuticals and financial services.

Since launching on T Cloud Public, Origify has also achieved an impressive record: "We've had zero percent downtime since we launched," reports Bosch Secure Authentication. "For a system that performs real-time authenticity checks worldwide, this stability is essential.

In addition to the technology, the human factor has also been a major advantage of T Cloud Public. Instead of ending up in anonymous call centers, Origify's team works with dedicated contacts who understand the architecture and the customer's critical requirements. "We feel valued as a customer. If we have questions, we are taken seriously," Steinbis says.

"Although we are still a young company, we enjoy the same individual support at T Cloud Public as a large company." Thanks to this close partnership, the subsidiary remains agile within the Bosch Group while benefiting from the strength and security of a reliable partner.