Chipmaker Licenses Portfolio of Security Patents to Protect Smart Cards

A major supplier of semiconductor chips for the smart card industry has licensed a portfolio of technology that could improve security of smart cards and electronic passports.

In an article on the Government Computer News website, William Jackson says Infineon Technologies AG has licensed the portfolio of patented technology from Cryptography Research Inc. of San Francisco. The deal, which applies to existing Infineon chips as well as to new purchases, will let any Infineon customers use the security tools without additional fees.

“All the licensing issues are taken care of,” CRI president Paul Kocher told Jackson. “It simplifies the process of buying and deploying DPA countermeasures.”

Chips in smart cards and other documents often contain sensitive personal information that is cryptographically protected, and have often come under fire because they can be hacked, compromising privacy and possibly leading to identity theft.

Jackson says the new technology could change that. “CRI uses several techniques to thwart the attacks, including hardware modifications that reduce the power of signals leaking from an active chip and mask them from filtering, and software to randomize the keys while still operating within industry standards so that data from different transaction cannot be combined to reveal keys,” he says.

The new deal could also help simplify licensing the technology for passports, improving homeland security.

To read the full article, click here: http://www.gcn.com/online/vol1_no1/46897-1.html