Rambus rolls out new version of DPA Workstation analysis platform

Rambus’ Cryptography Research division has rolled out version 8 of its DPA Workstation (DPAWS) analysis platform. The latest iteration of DPAWS features an extensive upgrade to the workstation software and user interface (UI) for enhanced system performance and usability in ASIC and FPGA side-channel vulnerability testing.

According…

IoT security market to exceed $28 billion by 2020

A new report published by Research and Markets projects that the Internet of Things (IoT) security market will increase from $6.89 billion in 2015 to $28.90 billion by 2020.

“With the technological advancement and increasing application of networking, the concern for security has become a global phenomenon and its intensity is increasing every day,” the researchers explained in a report summary.

Rambus inks security license agreement with Altis Semiconductor

Rambus’ Cryptography Research division has signed a licensing agreement with Altis Semiconductor for the use of advanced security technologies. The agreement includes differential power analysis (DPA) countermeasure techniques, which are designed to protect against DPA and other side-channel attacks.

The above-mentioned agreement also covers software developed by Altis Semiconductor customers…

Back doors: From Multics to War Games

Ernest Worthman and Ed Sperling of Semiconductor Engineering recently co-authored a fascinating article that explores the surprising origins of back doors in the technology sector.

“One of the first open references [to back doors] was in the 1983 movie WarGames,” the two explained. “In reality, modern back doors predate Hollywood’s discovery by about 20 years, starting in 196[4] with a…

CryptoManager: Between ASICs and FPGAs

Manufacturers typically configure application-specific integrated circuits (ASICS) for targeted use cases. In contrast, a field-programmable gate array – or FPGA – is an integrated circuit with custom logic that is configured by a customer or designer after manufacturing of the underlying FPGA microchip. Although FPGAs offer a number of advantages – including low, non-recurring engineering costs…

Evaluating security risks in the cloud

Cloud computing is perhaps best known for offering users ubiquitous and convenient on-demand network access.

“[The cloud provides a] pool of configurable computing resources such as shared networks, servers, storage, applications, and services,” Ernest Worthman of Semiconductor Engineering recently explained.

“What makes this so attractive is these services can be provisioned and adapted to the…

Waging 21st century cyber-warfare

Cyber-warfare is emerging as the most sophisticated battleground of the 21st century.

“In fact, the military in all major countries make it a priority,” Ernest Worthman of Semiconductor Engineering recently observed. “Collectively they are spending tens of billions of dollars on education and building a knowledgebase of how attacks can be perpetrated and what defenses are needed.”

As Worthman…

Building silicon foundations for security

Paul Kocher, the chief scientist of Rambus’ Cryptography Research division, recently presented a DesignCon 2016 keynote session that explored the crowded intersection of hardware, Moore’s Law and cryptography. As Kocher notes, cryptographic limits have historically been constrained by a salient lack of computing power.

“[Following Moore’s Law], more computing power enables much stronger…