Open Arsenal

Secure Identity for Every Physical Product.

ItemShield is an open source product identity and authentication specification designed to give every physical product a secure, verifiable digital identity. Manufacturers can assign unique cryptographic product tokens to individual items, batches, or lots and associate those identities with QR codes, barcodes, Data Matrix codes, NFC tags, RFID tags, or other machine-readable carriers. The cryptographic token provides the foundation for verification, allowing authorized systems and consumers to determine whether a product identity was legitimately issued by the manufacturer.

ItemShield provides a complete product lifecycle framework that follows products from manufacturing through distribution, inventory locations, retail, and final sale. Distribution centers can scan products when they arrive, acknowledge custody, record transfers, and update known inventory locations, while retailers can verify products and record point-of-sale events. Each product maintains a lifecycle state and authenticated event history, creating a traceable chain of custody that can help manufacturers identify unexpected movements, unauthorized inventory, and products that appear outside their expected supply chain.

A consumer-facing verification application allows customers to scan a product and receive a simple authenticity result without requiring them to understand the underlying cryptography or supply-chain data. ItemShield can identify invalid signatures, duplicate or reused identifiers, products appearing in unexpected locations, previously sold products being presented as new, recalled products, and other suspicious conditions. Fraud detection can use scan history, product state, location, timing, and chain-of-custody information to distinguish legitimate repeat scans from activity that may indicate counterfeiting, cloning, diversion, or unauthorized resale.

ItemShield also includes anti-theft, fraud alert, immutable ledger, evidence preservation, and legal and compliance capabilities. Manufacturers can report products as stolen, missing, hijacked, compromised, or diverted while preserving the product’s original identity and creating an auditable record of subsequent events. The specification is designed to record cryptographically verifiable facts rather than make unsupported legal conclusions, allowing organizations to use its records for investigations, insurance claims, recovery efforts, compliance processes, and authorized notifications. Optional modules can extend ItemShield with recall management, warranty tracking, returns, retailer management, NFC and RFID integration, e-commerce integration, shipping integration, analytics, distributed ledger anchoring, and multi-manufacturer federation.