Controller offers turnkey crypto security for IoT applications

Mouser is now stocking the MAXQ1061 DeepCover cryptographic controller from Maxim Integrated. Designed to protect the confidentiality, authenticity and integrity of software IP, communication and revenue models, the device is a turnkey security solution that enables engineers to add an extra layer of protection to IIoT, smart metering, network appliances and other connected embedded systems. The controller incorporates DeepCover embedded security technology, which applies multiple layers of advanced physical security to provide the most protected key storage possible. The device’s embedded cryptographic toolbox provides key generation and storage by offering a high level of abstraction including TLS/DTLS key negotiation, ECDSA-based TLS/DTLS authentication, digital signature generation and verification, SSL/TLS/DTLS packet encryption and MAC algorithms. The device can also serve as a secure bootloader for an external microcontroller. To help in storing certificates, public keys, private and secret keys and arbitrary user data, the device embeds 32kb of user-programmable secure EEPROM, which is managed through a flexible file system that enables custom security policy enforcement. The device also features a separate hardware AES engine over SPI, which allows it to function as a co-processor for stream encryption. The physical, environmental and logical protections built into the device enable the device to meet the stringent requirements of FIPS and Common Criteria EAL4+ certifications. For development, the device is supported by an evaluation kit, a credit card-sized socketed board.