By: Rocendo Bracamontes
Over the last year, I’ve come across many different applications and systems that require security. The majority of them can be categorized as follows: accessory authentication, consumables, system anti-cloning and session key exchange.
Since the ATSHA204, the latest Atmel CryptoAuthentication™ device, uses a symmetric algorithm, the system where the security is implemented requires the same key at the host and the client.
To provide the best security, designers are recommended, with few exceptions, to include a “host” chip ATSHA204 that holds the system’s symmetric keys.
The following example illustrates a critical application where the usage of hardware security on the transmitter (host) is crucial to perform a receiver (client) authentication over a network. For example, this applies to smart meters, industrial lighting and sensitive sensor networks.
Without it, the transmitter would have to store the secret keys in Flash and perform the cryptographic functions by software, making the system vulnerable to malicious hacks, and impacting overall system performance. To learn more about why hardware security is recommended over software security, check out our previous blog post on this topic.
Hardware Security on Host Side
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