San Francisco, California - NXP Semiconductors N.V. (Nasdaq: NXPI) today announced the authentication family of secure ICs designed specifically for device authentication. The authentication secure microcontrollers are based on NXP's proven security technology, which has been widely used for securing government ID cards and passports, as well as smart cards for banking and other high-security applications. Offering easy integration into end devices, the NXP authentication ICs provide a complete tamper-resistant security solution including key generation and programming services, as well as the option for remote management of applications and credentials running on the secure MCU. NXP will feature the first product in the authentication family, the A7001, this week at RSA® Conference in San Francisco (booth 956).

“Counterfeit electronic devices present a very real challenge to businesses, particularly as smartphones, tablets, e-book readers and other mobile computing devices become ubiquitous. In medical and industrial equipment, the presence of counterfeit devices could mean the difference between life and death,” said Chris Feige, senior director and general manager, tagging and authentication product lines, NXP Semiconductors. “With authentication, we’re bringing a new level of security to device authentication. It’s an entirely new portfolio of authentication chips built on our proven security technology.”

Protecting brands, protecting consumers

The NXP authentication family of secure ICs can be used for counterfeit protection; for authentication of devices and users accessing secure content and services; and for device identification to enable secure machine-to-machine communication. The authentication chips can be easily integrated into a wide range of consumer products, ranging from smartphones, laptops and tablets to game consoles and electronic accessories. Other end applications that can benefit from authentication include ICT infrastructure, industrial equipment, medical devices, and appliances and devices in the Smart Grid.

Using authentication, brand owners can prevent revenue loss from counterfeiting; enhance their customers’ brand experience as they use genuine products; and protect software content and services against unauthorized use and distribution. Consumers can be confident in the authenticity and safety of authentication-protected products they purchase, as well as the privacy of sensitive data transmitted from and shared between devices.

Enhanced security and ease of integration

Using state-of-the-art Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) algorithms such as RSA and ECC, the authentication A7001 enables key management schemes where the secret key never leaves the security IC and is not part of the host software, and also supports symmetric algorithms such as 3DES and AES. In addition, the NXP authentication A7001 security IC has built-in hardware tamper resistance to protect the secret key from physical attacks.

The authentication A7001 is a secure microcontroller running the JavaOS, along with an industry standard X.509 certificate-based security application for convenient and easy integration into end devices. For design engineers, the JavaOS also allows rapid application development and customization. The authentication A7001 solution features a standard I2C interface enabling integration into virtually all electronic devices, as well as 80KB EEPROM for secure storage.

Availability

Engineering samples of the NXP authenticationA7001 are available immediately. Volume ordering will be available from NXP.com starting at the end of March.

Links

• Authentication solutions from NXP for anti-counterfeiting and brand protection
• NXP authentication A7001 product information

About NXP Semiconductors

NXP Semiconductors N.V. (Nasdaq: NXPI) provides High Performance Mixed Signal and Standard Product solutions that leverage its leading RF, Analog, Power Management, Interface, Security and Digital Processing expertise. These innovations are used in a wide range of automotive, identification, wireless infrastructure, lighting, industrial, mobile, consumer and computing applications. Headquartered in Europe, the company has approximately 28,000 employees working in more than 25 countries and posted sales of USD 3.8 billion in 2009.