From remote cyberattacks to the creation of counterfeit products, widespread security threats are affecting industries around the globe. When carried out, these threats can lead to substantial losses in service revenue, escalating recovery costs and, perhaps most significantly, irreparable damage to brand equity. Now more than ever, it is critical to implement robust security into new and existing designs to protect Intellectual Property (IP) and enable trusted authentication of connected devices.

To meet this growing challenge to today’s connected applications—especially for those spanning from hardware to the cloud—Microchip has created the ATECC608A CryptoAuthentication device, a secure element that allows you to add hardware-based security to your designs. Microchip has also established a Security Design Partner Program to connect you with third-party partners that can enhance and expedite the development of secure designs.

The foundation of secured communication is the ability to create, protect and authenticate a device’s unique and trusted identity. By keeping a device’s private keys isolated from the system in a secured area, coupled with its industry-leading cryptography practices, the ATECC608A provides a high level of security that can be used in nearly any type of design. The primary features of the ATECC608A include:

Best-in-class key generation: The Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS)-compliant Random Number Generator (RNG) generates unique keys that comply with the latest requirements from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), providing an easier path to a whole-system FIPS certification.

Boot validation capabilities for small systems: New commands facilitate the signature validation and digest computation of the host microcontroller (MCU) firmware for systems with small MCUs, such as an ARM Cortex-M0+ based device, as well as for more robust embedded systems.

Trusted authentication for LoRa nodes: The AES-128 engine also makes security deployments for LoRa infrastructures possible by enabling authentication of trusted nodes within a network.

Fast cryptography processing: The hardware-based integrated Elliptical Curve Cryptography (ECC) algorithms create smaller keys and establish a certificate-based root of trust more quickly and securely than other implementation approaches that rely on legacy methods.

Tamper-resistant protections: Anti-tampering techniques protect keys from physical attacks and attempted intrusions after deployment. These techniques allow the system to preserve a secured and trusted identity.

Trusted in-manufacturing provisioning: Companies can use Microchip’s secured manufacturing facilities to safely provision their keys and certificates, eliminating the risk of exposure during manufacturing.

Experienced and Capable Security Partners

When you select one of Microchip’s hardware security solutions, you also have access to Microchip’s Security Partners within the company’s Design Partner Program. These industry-leading companies, including Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud Platform, provide complementary cloud-driven security models and infrastructure. Other partners are well versed in implementing Microchip’s security devices and libraries. Whether you are looking to secure an Internet of Things (IoT) application or add authentication capabilities for consumables, such as cartridges or accessories, the expertise of Microchip’s Security Design Partners can reduce both your development cost and your time to market.

“The work done on the ATECC608A chip through our collaboration with Microchip enables Google IoT customers to get a new offering that provides high levels of security with a seamless onboarding experience,” said Antony Passemard, Product Management Lead for Google Cloud IoT.

Development Tools

To assist you with the rapid prototyping of your secure solution, the new CryptoAuth Xplained Pro Evaluation and Development Kit (ATCryptoAuth-XPRO-B) is an add-on board that is compatible with any Microchip Xplained or Xplained Pro evaluation board.

If you are looking for a way to heighten the security in your next design, the ATECC608A can be ordered from microchipDIRECT or from Microchip’s worldwide distribution network.