Semiconductor chip based authentication
to prevent cloning of e-gadgets
The ORIGA chip (SLE 95050) from Infineon offers hardware
security interface to various peripherals of a computing
device of both portable and desktop type. With this chip
on-board the connection between host and it's peripheral
can be established only after authentication.
This semiconductor device can warn the phone user from
using a fake battery made by cloning masters. Some of the
applications mentioned by Infineon include batteries, printer
cartridges, earphone, speakers, docking stations, and any
such replaceable parts.
SLE95050 uses elliptic curve cryptography, offering reliable
host side SW implementation.
This same technology Infineon is also suggesting for use
in PC peripherals to recognize if a peripheral or accessory,
such as external storage devices and graphics cards, is
original equipment or cloned.
Infineon Technologies has announced it has ported this technology
into Intel vPro technology.
Infineon is demonstrating how chip-based authentication
can help implement authentication of PC peripherals at the
Intel Developer Forum 2009 (San Francisco, Sept. 22- 24).
"Authentication of devices can enhance system security
by restricting access if an unauthorized PC peripheral or
accessory is attached to a client device," said Paolo
Cocchiglia, Vice President, ASIC and Power IC, Infineon
Technologies North America Corp. "In conjunction with
Intel vPro technology, it can also improve reliability and
help to reduce maintenance issues by preventing deliberate
or accidental use of cloned devices, since an administrator
can readily identify any cloned or unauthorized devices
attached to a system and address the issue before it causes
problems. Together with energy efficiency and communication,
security is one of the three focus areas of Infineon."
"We are committed to creating an ecosystem of suppliers
and partners to enhance the native capabilities of Intel
vPro technology," said Larry Wiklund, Director Business
Development, Business Client Group, Intel Corporation. "Infineon's
demonstration of hard-wired authentication for system components
and peripherals shows how IT administrators can gain access
to a new and powerful tool to enhance the integrity of systems
and help validate that all hardware in a digital office
environment complies with corporate requirements."
In the demonstration, an USB-stick containing the ORIGA
chip acts as a peripheral to be authenticated.
The host device only contains a software resident public
key that is used in the authentication process. ECC is a
more advanced encryption/decryption algorithm than today's
asymmetric systems (i.e. RSA) and the public/private key
algorithms are recognized as more secure than symmetric,
shared key systems like AES and DES.
The ECC asymmetric authentication technology allows different
host-to-peripheral authentication, which is independent
of the location of the peripheral or the communication interface
(wireless, local, wired, chip-to-chip, etc.). Additional
applications of ORIGA technology include allowing service
providers (i.e. Internet, data service, media provider)
to use secure authentication technology to deliver content
to the rightful subscriber or owner, and providing consumers
with a tool for secure digital home environments.
More information about the ORIGA authentication chip can
be found at: www.infineon.com/ORIGA
One more example of such authentication technology is "Cypress
& UPEK Reference Design for USB Flash Drives" developed
jointly by Cypress Semiconductor and UPEK. To learn on this
product visit: http://www.cypress.com/?id=1013&rtID=5&rID=17875&cache=0
