Date: 18/11/2009

Chip technology from ST Micro to protect against brand cloning

ST Microelectronics has unveiled new MCU chips based on a technology called AuKey.
AuKey tech based products can protect products such as computer accessories, add-in cards, gaming peripherals, printer cartridges, toners, disposable medical equipment, network infrastructure products, metering devices, and many such devices from counterfeiting.

AuKey authenticates products by running secure operating system (OS) software on top of the ST23 secure microcontroller hardware by using security keys. Together MCU and the software also protect data read/write operations.

The security crypto algorithms supported by AuKey includes the AES shared-key system and Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC).

ST says, this approach differs from conventional security methods of storing security keys in memory chip, which can be broken and cloned.

AuKey is also a customizable security architecture where the brand owner can configure key-management mechanism personalize the chips.