SecureRF and Andes Technology today announced they have partnered to offer fast, quantum-resistant security for constrained IoT devices. This collaboration enables companies to use AndesCore™ secure processor in combination with SecureRF’s asymmetric (public-key) cryptosystems. Andes’ secure memory protection and tamper-resistance protection provides shield against attacks. SecureRF’s authentication and data protection solutions provide strong protection for IoT devices that are lightweight, compact, and require ultra-low-energy consumption.
Low-resource 32-, 16-, and 8-bit IoT devices are often deployed with little or no protection because most security solutions overwhelm available memory and power. Many security solutions also require a network connection and ongoing administration of a universal key or password database. These databases are subject to their own security risks, and can be extremely impractical to manage, particularly for high-volume industrial and consumer devices that may be distributed worldwide.
SecureRF’s asymmetric solutions, which include the Ironwood™ Key Agreement Protocol and Walnut Digital Signature Algorithm (WalnutDSA™), provide strong and fast security that will protect IoT devices even when quantum computers become available and render currently-used methods obsolete. Based on Group Theoretic Cryptography, SecureRF’s cryptographic protocols are at least 60 times faster than ECC, and consume up to 140 times less energy. Furthermore, there is no need to manage a database or maintain a network connection.
Andes’ 32-bit AndesCore™ S801 security processor and SecureRF’s security solutions are particularly well-suited. S801 uses a secure memory protection unit (SMPU) to isolate and protect different users/applications based on security privilege levels. S801 also provides unique tamper-resistance protections to shield against physical fault-injection attacks and side channel attacks. Its instruction/data/address scrambling, secure interruption and secure debugging features defend against hacks targeting all possible CPU interface.
“Partnering with SecureRF enables us to address the rapidly-growing need for high-performance authentication and data protection solutions that work efficiently in constrained environments,” said Frankwell Lin, president, Andes Technology. “This joint endeavor allows companies developing smart cards, smart appliances, wearables and other low-resource IoT applications to completely protect their users with an economical, silicon-based IP solution that is easy to implement. To further speed up and conceal SecureRF’s efficient algorithms, the powerful Andes Custom Extension™ (ACE) supported by extensible AndesCores such as E830 can be used to automate the design of special custom instructions”.
“Widespread consumer acceptance of IoT devices will be challenging until manufacturers make strong authentication and data protection the rule rather than the exception,” said Louis Parks, chief executive officer, SecureRF. “Our quantum-resistant cryptosystems combined with AndesCore™ processors offer manufacturers a competitive edge by enabling them to provide their customers with peace-of-mind that their information and device access are fully protected.”
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