Recently licensed to Qualcomm, the Rambus CryptoManager™ platform is built around an advanced Security Engine and versatile Infrastructure Suite.
Smart sensors go lensless for the IoT
Over 30 billion devices will be wirelessly linked to the rapidly growing Internet of Things (IoT) by 2020. Consequently, new generations of connected objects – boasting rapid data collection abilities coupled with a more adaptive nature – are expected to hit the market over the next decade.
Rambus secures smartphones and tablets
Did you know that Rambus is helping a number of industry heavyweights protect smartphones and tablets against side-channel attacks? In recent years, Rambus has licensed its DPA countermeasure technology to multiple corporations including Broadcom, Infineon, ST Microelectronics and Samsung. More specifically, more than 7 billion devices will be manufactured in 2014 with DPA countermeasures licensed from the Cryptography Research (CR) Division of Rambus.
Caught in between
I recently spent four busy days at a tradeshow where I was fortunate enough to get a couple of nice gifts – and perhaps by coincidence, these items are a good representation of where we are in the high-tech market today. Let me explain. As I write this blog, I’m wearing my new fitness-tracking device that I received as part of the ARM IP Connected Community challenge at the Design Automation Conference (DAC) back in early June (I lost the challenge, by the way). The device is fun, tracks my activity, displaying it on my mobile phone – AND reminds me that I am not getting enough exercise or sleep (not so fun). Another gift I received was a battery pack that can recharge my cell phone several times in between plug in opportunities (usually every night). Don’t get me wrong, this was a nice gift, however it hit me that while IoT seems to be the trendy topic, less often is it mentioned that our smartphones can’t get through one day without being recharged! A product like a battery pack would not be necessary if our mobile phones could last a few days on a single charge.
Wave and Bell ID Partner to Combat Online Payment Fraud
EMV card-present transactions enabled for E-Commerce by integrating TPM technology.
Wave Systems Corp. (NASDAQ: WAVX) announced it is partnering with chip lifecycle management solutions company, Bell ID, to offer a joint solution aimed at reducing online payment fraud. The solution will be marketed primarily to card issuing banks, as well as online merchants, governments, and enterprises worldwide.
Using Bell ID’s Trusted Service Manager and Secure Element in The Cloud (SEiTC) server, alongside Wave’s ERAS for TPM management and Wave’s endpoint identity and monitoring expertise, the combined offering provides robust protection for transactions and stored payments. The companies have executed a letter of intent and anticipate the signing of a definitive agreement in August.
The incident rate of card-not-present (CNP) fraud has been growing steadily over the past several years. According to a recent FICO Banking Analytics Blog, CNP fraud now accounts for close to half of all credit card fraud. Countries that have already adopted the EMV® card specification have seen CNP fraud rates increase. In the United States, CNP fraud is expected to rise significantly over the next eighteen months, as the EMV standard is put into effect. The EMV directive, which implements a global standard for a secure chip-based payment application, will make merchants liable for any fraud resulting from transactions on systems that are not EMV-capable.
“Wave’s robust product portfolio is very complementary to Bell ID’s strongly positioned solution set in the financial services market,” said Bill Solms, CEO, Wave Systems. “We see the EMV transition creating high demand for more secure transaction capabilities, and are confident that together we can provide financial institutions with a comprehensive solution for payment authorization and storage.”
“Bell ID has been a pioneer in developing and delivering cloud-based payment platforms” adds Pat Curran, Executive Chairman at Bell ID. “We also have extensive experience in delivering EMV solutions globally and have witnessed fraud transition online as point-of-sale terminals in face-to-face transactions become more secure. We are therefore delighted to extend our offering with Wave to provide a secure online transaction and storage payment solution, which will mitigate against an expected rise in online fraud and provide a trusted link between device identity and internet services.”
Cryptography Research and Entropic Sign License Agreement for DPA Countermeasures to Secure Next Generation Content
Security technology fully protects set-top box SoCs from non-invasive side channel attacks
SAN FRANCISCO and SAN DIEGO – July 23, 2014 – Cryptography Research, the security division of Rambus (NASDAQ:RMBS), and Entropic(NASDAQ:ENTR), a world leader in semiconductor solutions for the connected home, today announced they have signed a patent license agreement allowing for the use of the Cryptography Research side-channel attack countermeasures in Entropic’s integrated circuits. The Cryptography Research patented technology will protect Entropic’s set-top box system-on-a-chip (SoC) products against differential power analysis (DPA) and related attacks. This agreement builds on the previous agreement between the two companies with Entropic already licensing the Cryptography Research CryptoFirewall™ tamper-resistant core for set-top boxes.
“While high value content enhances the Pay-TV experience, it also carries with it substantial risk for our OEM and Service Provider customers,” said Matt Rhodes, senior vice president, Global Marketing, Entropic. “Today’s premium programming requires strong protection systems and CRI’s DPA countermeasure technology provides an essential foundation for any Conditional Access or Digital Rights Management system.”
“The market demands for protection against non-invasive side channel attacks such as DPA have grown with the continued rise of high quality content,” said Paul Kocher, chief scientist of the Rambus Cryptography Research division. “Entropic has been a terrific partner for our CryptoFirewall technology and is once again taking a leadership role in deploying strong content protection technology in the set-top box SoC market.”
Using DPA, attackers can measure the power consumption of a set-top box chip to extract secret cryptographic keys stored within the set-top box. The discovery of secret keys undermines the security of set-top boxes within a service provider’s network and can result in the theft of valuable, high-quality content and services as well as leaving other data like personal information vulnerable. Set-top box SoCs that contain DPA countermeasures prevent the power consumption analysis through a series of techniques to ultimately protect the secret keys of a set-top box from being discovered.
Side channel and DPA attacks are non-invasive attacks that involve monitoring the fluctuating electrical power consumption of a target device and then using advanced statistical methods to derive cryptographic keys and other secrets. Strong countermeasures to these attacks help protect tamper-resistant products used in applications such as banking, pay television, mass transit, secure ID, and wireless telecommunications.
For additional information on DPA Countermeasures, CryptoFirewall or on Cryptography Research visit cryptography.com.
About Entropic
Entropic™ (Nasdaq:ENTR) is a world leader in semiconductor solutions for the connected home. The Company transforms how traditional HDTV broadcast and IP-based streaming video content is seamlessly, reliably, and securely delivered, processed, and distributed into and throughout the home. Entropic’s next-generation Set-top Box (STB) System-on-a-Chip (SoC) and Connectivity solutions enable Pay-TV operators to offer consumers more captivating whole-home entertainment experiences by transforming the way digital entertainment is delivered, connected and consumed – in the home and on the go. For more information, please visit Entropic at:www.entropic.com, read our blog Entropic Topics, or get social with us at@Entropic_News, or on Facebook, Google+, YouTube and LinkedIn.
About Cryptography Research, Inc.
Cryptography Research, Inc. (CRI), a division of Rambus Inc., is a leader in semiconductor security research and development. Established by internationally renowned cryptographer Paul Kocher, CRI develops and licenses innovative technologies in areas including tamper resistance, content protection, anti-counterfeiting, network security, and financial services. Over seven billion security products are made each year under license from CRI. Security systems designed by CRI scientists and engineers protect hundreds of billions of dollars in commerce annually. Additional information is available at: cryptography.com.
Forward Looking Statements
Statements in this press release that are not strictly historical in nature constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding Entropic’s SoC technologies, its related prospects and its role in the future of connected home entertainment. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause Entropic’s actual results to be materially different from historical results or from any results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, competition, risks associated with Entropic dependence on a limited number of customers and suppliers, technology risks, the risk that the market for HD video and multimedia content delivery solutions may not develop as Entropic anticipates and other factors discussed in the “Risk Factors” section of Entropic’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2014. All forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Entropic is providing this information as of the date of this release and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
