Following on from the recent news that Rambus HQ has been Common Criteria (CC) certified, we are pleased to announce that our AES-32 cryptographic accelerator IP core has also been CC certified. This is the first cryptographic soft IP core to be evaluated under the CC scheme and signals a growing demand for IP solutions that meet the highest security standards.
Common Criteria, also known as ISO 15408, is an international standard to which security products are evaluated. Common Criteria operates using Evaluation Assurance Levels (EALs) ranging from EAL1 to EAL7, with EAL4 to EAL7 being the highest levels of certification.
The Rambus AES-ECB-32-DPA-FIA soft IP core has been certified by TÜV Rheinland under the Netherlands Scheme for Certification in the Area of IT Security (NSCIB). The IP has been certified as meeting the EAL4+ assurance level for Vulnerability Assessment at AVA_VAN.5 level, Life Cycle Support for ALC_DVS.2 level, and Tests for ATE_DPT.2 level.
As CC evaluations conducted in one country are mutually recognized in more than 30 countries under the Common Criteria Recognition Agreement (CCRA), and by 17 countries under the SOGIS Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) for certifications at EAL4 and above within Europe, CC certification of this IP core can support the needs of our customers across the globe.
The objective behind evaluating and certifying our AES IP core was to enable re-use in a security Integrated Circuit (IC) targeting EAL4+ certification. In this case, the evaluation of the final product can make use of the Evaluation Test Report for Composition (ETRFC) and guidance, saving vital time during product development.
This is the first cryptographic accelerator soft IP core to undergo CC evaluation in this manner, but, as the complexity of security products increases and developers turn to experts in security IP solutions to provide critical functions for their products, it is expected that it will be the first of many to come.
Expectations that IP meet the highest security standards are growing rapidly, and as companies face product development costs and time pressure, choosing an IP that has already been evaluated can reduce overall project risk.
Rambus believes soft IP certification can bring tremendous benefits to its customers by speeding up subsequent evaluations of high assurance products, thereby greatly reducing time-to-market and security evaluation costs.
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