Smart card microcontroller meets security standard

The AE55C1 32bit smart card microcontroller, with advanced cryptographic library functions, has obtained EAL4+ certification under the ISO/IEC15408 international standard.

The Renesas Technology AE55C1 32bit smart card microcontroller, with advanced cryptographic library functions, has obtained EAL4+ certification under the ISO/IEC15408 international standard relating to security of IT products.

The remarkable development of the information industry in recent years has been accompanied by advances in information security, and IT products equipped with security functions have come into widespread use to ensure security of information in various fields.

ISO/IEC15408 is a standard for evaluating and rating the security assurance level of IT products, covering a wide range of security related IT technology fields including smart cards, and its certification results are recognised in many countries throughout the world.

Renesas Technology has to date released 16bit and 32bit smart card microcontrollers, and in addition to holding a major share of the worldwide GSM-SIM card market is also a major supplier of smart card microcontrollers for the financial and ID card fields.

The newly certified AE55C1 is a member of the AE-5 Series of 32bit smart card microcontrollers.

It incorporates a coprocessor for DES (Data Encryption Standard) encryption and a coprocessor for modular exponentiation for encryption processing, as well as high-security functions such as detectors for voltage and frequency abnormalities, making it ideal for use in financial and ID fields.

Since first obtaining ISO/IEC15408 certification in May 2002, Renesas Technology has obtained certification for 16bit smart card microcontroller products, and now a certified 32bit smart card microcontroller has been added to this list.

The AE55C1 has received an ISO/IEC15408 smart card microcontroller security assurance level of EAL4+, using the industry-standard security protection profile BSI-PP-0002-2001.

This level is a comprehensive indicator covering not only security assurance of the product itself, but also security management assurance in terms of product development and manufacturing, and represents a high assurance level for consumer use.

Also, on this occasion, unlike previous certification of hardware only, certification has been obtained that includes Renesas Technology's Advanced Cryptographic Library (ACL) enabling fast and secure execution of encryption processing.

The use of ACL thus enables construction of a high-security system, including both hardware and software.

In obtaining certification, evaluation was carried out by T-Systems GEI of Germany, and certification was implemented by Bundesamt fur Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik (BSI), also of Germany.

Obtaining this high-level certification means that Renesas Technology's technology has been recognised internationally, and that users can confidently undertake the development of systems provided with high-level security using this product.

Renesas Technology will continue to seek certification of other smart card microcontrollers, undertake the development of products supporting still higher levels of security as well as high-functionality products, and make renewed efforts in fields requiring robust security.

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