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Cryptographic modules offer an all-inclusive cryptography package for customised security needs. This blog deep-dives into the benefits, implementations, and possible use cases of a hardware-based cryptographic module.

Why do we need cryptographic modules?

Securing data and communications, within and between microcontrollers, System on Chip implementations, and other systems, requires a range of cryptographic operations. These services include hash functions for ensuring data integrity, symmetric encryption for encrypting bulk data in transit or at rest, asymmetric encryption for key exchange, signing data and messages, as well as authenticating components, users, and accounts, and finally a source of quality randomness for cryptographic key generation.

Implementing all of these securely and in an optimised manner for a hardware platform requires in-depth skills and understanding of both cryptography and digital design for microcircuits. The various cryptographic services can be implemented, and are typically offered, as distinct IP cores dedicated to a single specified cryptographic algorithm. Additional logic and integration will need to be implemented around these IP cores to facilitate the necessary cryptographic operations and processes required by the surrounding total solution. Complexity of the system increases attack surface and the risk of design flaws and security vulnerabilities.

For these reasons, critical security services are often segregated into a single cryptographic module, behind a unified and well-defined interface for access by the rest of the system. This introduces a cryptographic boundary, which isolates security critical operations from the rest of the system.

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