Date: 28/08/2009

Cryptography-Research locking Atmel's microcontrollers against DPA attack

Atmel's microcontroller and it's MCU embedded chips are now safeguarded against Power Analysis attack. Hackers and counterfeit experts use Simple Power Analysis (SPA) and Differential Power Analysis (DPA) to extract the chip's password and other security content. DPA is more powerful attack than SPA.

Atmel and Cryptography Research have signed agreement for using CRI's patents to secure Atmel's semiconductor devices against Differential Power Analysis (DPA) and related attacks. Under the agreement, Atmel is allowed to use CRI's patents for its security chips used in smart cards and other such security applications. The license allows Atmel's customers to develop their own security code without buying a separate license from Cryptography Research.

"Security is one of our main focus areas, and our strategy is to develop the most advanced secure microcontrollers with state-of-the-art protection mechanisms against a multitude of attacks. This agreement enables Atmel to strengthen its leadership in the security market," said Hervé Roche, Atmel's Marketing Manager for Telecom and Banking.

"Atmel is a leading chip supplier in a variety of industries," said Carole Coplan, Vice President of Business Development, Tamper Resistance Solutions, at Cryptography Research. "We are pleased to include Atmel among our growing list of licensed chip suppliers."

DPA is a kind of study of power consumption analysis of embedded system device and then use that data to create a possible set of passwords by intelligent permutations and combinations (advanced statistical analysis).
Cryptography Research has pioneered in protecting embedded systems from DPA attacks by using highly advanced technique inside the semiconductor device itself. By using Cryptography Research's techniques, microcontroller devices can become tamper resistant.

To learn on DPA read this white paper from Cryptography Research available at,

www.cryptography.com/resources/whitepapers/DPATechInfo.pdf

The financial and personal access applications such as banking, pay television, mass transit, secure ID, and wireless telecommunications deserves this kind of protection.

Security application semiconductor vendors such as Infineon, NXP, Renesas and ST Microelectronics are extensively using Cryptography Research techniques to protect their chips.