Avnet Memec - Silica, an Avnet, Inc. (NYSE: AVT) company, StarChip, a fabless semiconductor supplier of secure microcontrollers and Trusted Objects, a provider of secure firmware and security services, today announced their partnership for the deployment of an optimized security platform, encompassing a family of certified secure elements with tailored security protocols from sensor to enterprise server and unique personalization services aimed at serving every customer for the Industry 4.0 and the IoT markets.

The initial solution relies on a low-cost, low-power secure 32-bit microcontroller supplied by StarChip, with a dual certification from EMVCo (Europay Mastercard Visa) and Common Criteria Evaluation Assurance Level, delivered in a 3x3 DFN6 package and other standard packages making it an easy-to-integrate companion chip in any sensor, device, or gateway.

The StarChip secure microcontroller is programmed at Avnet Memec-Silica’s secure warehouse with a firmware supplied by Trusted Objects, adding a set of functions and commands tailored for the exact requirements of the customer’s final application and global security architecture. The programmed secure microcontroller thus becomes a secure element with the capability to perform cryptography primitives and complex functions comprising and not limited to AES, ECC encryption, decryption, signature, secure key renewal (Diffie-Hellman), on-board key generation, true random number generation, handling of certificates, and more while never exposing secret keys to the outside world.

Last but not least, this secure element is personalized with the support of Trusted Objects at Avnet Memec-Silica’s secure warehouse with unique public keys, private keys, certificates and identifiers generated on-site by a dedicated HSM (Hardware Security Module) as per the security scheme required by each customer’s application and global security architecture. Secure elements and, if needed, matching whitelists, are then securely made available to the customer or its manufacturing partner.

Example codes implementing various secure protocols, both at the embedded and server levels, will be provided and demonstrated with Avnet Memec-Silica’s Visible Things™ IoT platform and made readily available to our customers.

Philippe Fremont, vice-president of Technical Marketing EMEA with Avnet Memec-Silica comments: “Whereas connecting objects, devices and machines to enterprise IS/IT enables a breadth of new services in the consumer and industrial IoT, we believe it should not jeopardize the global security of such systems. This is the reason why Avnet Memec-Silica together with our partners are proud to introduce this highly flexible innovative certified security platform able to handle end-to-end security inside and above communication networks for every one of our customers.”

Hanène Maupas, vice-president of StarChip Sales & Marketing comments: “When you open assets living in your network to the Internet, you increase the “attack surface” because you are extending your business model to new areas, partners and user types. The security answer to this fundamental change is to protect the system against any  potential attacks including obtaining private or confidential data, manipulating or controlling devices, confusing or denying service to applications that use and supply data within IOT systems and specifically in Industry 4.0 revolution. A secure element based on a secure micro controller, a secure firmware and personalized by the issuer is already widely used and proved its efficiency in different use cases such as payment, access control and e-government. Adapting this technology to be used in Industry 4.0 and IoT is the innovation that we are bringing to the market with our partners Avnet Memec-Silica and Trusted Objects.”

Sami Anbouba, CEO of Trusted Objects comments: “The broader deployment of the IoT will require trust in the connected objects and in the data transmitted; in this respect, a Secure Element solution embedded into the object is one of  the most efficient security solutions to protect the entire IoT network against a growing number of attacks. We are proud to have brought our digital security expertize to co-develop with our partners Avnet Memec-Silica and StarChip a unique Secure Element solution that will enable all players in the IoT chain to dramatically increase their confidence in the objects and the data.”

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