As the number and types of connected devices proliferates, market fragmentation and security vulnerabilities in the Internet of Things (IoT) have created significant challenges for developers. Hardware-based security is the only way to protect secret keys from physical attacks and remote extraction, but extensive security expertise, development time and costs are required to configure and provision each device. With companies producing anywhere from hundreds to millions of connected devices per year across the globe, scalability of architecture can be a major barrier to deployments. Manufacturers typically have only been able to support configuring and provisioning for high-volume orders, leaving companies with low- to mid-sized deployments with low performing options.
To address this need in the mass market, Microchip has introduced a pre-provisioned solution that provides secure key storage for low-, mid- and high-volume device deployments using the ATECC608A secure element. Microchip’s ‘Trust Platform’ consists of a three-tier offering, providing out-of-the-box pre-provisioned, pre-configured or fully customisable secure elements, allowing developers to choose the platform best suited for their individual design.The first tier of the ready-to-go secure authentication – Trust&GO – provides zero-touch pre-provisioned secure elements with a Minimum Orderable Quantity (MOQ) as low as 10 units. Device credentials are pre-programmed, shipped and locked inside the ATECC608A for automated cloud or LoRaWAN authentication onboarding. In parallel, corresponding certificates and public keys are delivered in a “manifest” file, which is downloadable via Microchip’s purchasing e-commerce store and select distribution partners.
“The uptick in successful attacks on software-based security solutions underscores the need for companies to adopt industry best practices, including isolating private keys in secure elements,” said Nuri Dagdeviren, vice president of Microchip’s secure products business unit: “Microchip’s Trust Platform makes hardware-based security simple and cost-effective for companies of all sizes to implement, removing the barriers traditionally associated with configuring and provisioning devices.”
For more information on the Trust Platform, click here.
