Beijing, China – March 9, 2020 – Silicon Labs (also known as Silicon Labs, NASDAQ: SLAB) announces Secure Vault technology, a new suite of advanced security features designed to help manufacturers of connected devices tackle the Internet of Things ( IoT) escalating security threats and regulatory pressures. Silicon Labs’ Wireless Gecko Series 2 platform leverages the benefits of Secure Vault by combining best-in-class security software capabilities with Physical Unclonable Function (PUF) hardware technology, greatly reducing the risk of IoT security breaches and intellectual property damage.
“With the rapidly changing security landscape, IoT developers are under pressure to improve device security and meet regulatory developments,” said Matt Johnson, senior vice president and general manager of IoT products at Silicon Labs. State-of-the-art hardware and software security features for IoT wireless SoCs simplify development, accelerate time-to-market and help device manufacturers develop future-proof products.”
The hardware capabilities of Secure Vault provide the best level of security in a cost-effective wireless SoC solution. The security subsystem, including dedicated cores, buses, and memory, is separate from the host processor. This unique hardware separation design isolates key functions such as secure key management and encryption into their respective functional areas, making the entire device more secure. The new combination of security features is ideal for companies working to address emerging regulations such as GDPR in Europe and SB-327 in California.
Tanner Johnson, senior cybersecurity analyst at Omdia, said: “Embedded security is an important requirement for IoT products, and software updates alone cannot address all vulnerabilities in insecure hardware. Therefore, hardware components can form the first line of device security. line of defense, especially as new regulations for IoT product security continue to roll out.”
Secure Vault improves IoT security with a unique combination of hardware and software features, making it easier for product manufacturers to protect their brands, designs and consumer data. Integrating security systems with wireless SoCs can help designers simplify the development process and enable secure over-the-air (OTA) updates to connected devices throughout the product lifecycle. Helps mitigate unforeseen vulnerabilities, risks, and regulatory action by delivering genuine, trusted software or firmware to connected products.
Secure Vault provides the following new security features:
Security Device Identity
One of the biggest challenges with connectable devices is post-deployment authentication. Silicon Labs’ Factory Trust Deployment Service with optional secure programming service provides each individual silicon chip with a secure device identity certificate similar to a birth certificate during IC manufacturing, supporting post-deployment security, authenticity and Proof-based health checks. A device certificate ensures the reliability of the chip over its lifetime.
Secure key management and storage
The effectiveness of device and data access security schemes directly depends on the secrecy of the keys. With Secure Vault, keys can be encrypted and isolated from application code. Since all keys are encrypted with a PUF-generated master encryption key, virtually unlimited secure key storage is provided. The power-on signature is unique for each device, and the master key is created during the power-on phase, eliminating the need for master key storage, further reducing attack vectors.
Advanced Tamper Detection
This feature provides a wide range of capabilities, from easy-to-implement tamper-proofing of product enclosures to sophisticated tamper detection of silicon chips through voltage, frequency, and temperature manipulation. Hackers use these changes to force hardware or software to behave abnormally, creating vulnerabilities for glitch attacks. Configurable tamper response capabilities allow developers to set appropriate response actions, including interrupting, resetting or, in extreme cases, deleting keys.
Price and Availability
Silicon Labs is currently sampling a new Secure Vault-capable wireless SoC for release by the end of the second quarter of 2020.
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