ARM Works With Intel to Deliver Increased System Protection for Flash Memory Devices

Intel Authenticated Flash Memory and ARM TrustZone Technology Security Capabilities Improve Embedded System Performance and Drive SoC Cost Savings

CAMBRIDGE, England -- October 15, 2007 -- ARM today announced that the Flash Memory Group at Intel Corporation, a member of the ARM® Connected Community®, has endorsed ARM TrustZone® technology as a trusted security solution to complement the features of its Intel Authenticated Flash technology. The combination of the ARM TrustZone technology from the ARM1176-JZ(TM), Cortex(TM)-A8 and Cortex(TM)-A9 applications processors with Intel Authenticated Flash memory offers a comprehensive, reliable approach to delivering a trusted environment, specifically targeted at securing consumer products such as mobile phones, PDAs and set-top boxes, as well as other products running open operating systems such as Symbian, Linux and Windows CE.

"The need for security protection of wireless applications represents a significant issue for the embedded world," said Jim McGregor, principal analyst and research director, Enabling Technologies Group, In-Stat. "With complementary technologies from players like ARM and Intel, In-Stat believes the industry is heading in a positive direction to address the issues of security while enhancing the core technology for these applications."

The need to improve security is being driven by the costs associated with the failure of embedded systems to secure critical data and applications such as payment services. With the spread of wireless systems, particularly in mobile phones, as well as the exponential growth in the connectivity of devices, the natural concern is to address security as a system level concern, where Flash memory chips play an important role.

"The security of consumer and wireless devices is coming under greater scrutiny. With increasing threats of mobile fraud, content hacking and virus attacks, operators and businesses are at risk of losing significant revenue opportunities. We are enabling system security by integrating protective measures into the heart of our processors and providing secure software to complement the efforts of our Partners," said Tiago Alves, security solutions manager, ARM. "The alignment of Intel's Authenticated Flash technology with ARM security solutions provides developers with the increased flexibility and assurance needed to bring secure applications to market more effectively. The value of the ARM Architecture in complementing and powering the Flash memory segment becomes more evident and we expect to see much more happening in this space in the near future"

The ARM TrustZone security architecture addresses this issue by offering trusted execution of code and hardware isolation, enabling the protection of on- and off-chip memory and peripherals from a range of software and hardware attacks. The Intel Authenticated Flash memory also provides trusted computing by supplying optimized hardware memory protection that can prevent unauthorized modifications to Flash memory content. When combined, the two complementary technologies offer OEMs, carriers and end users a highly protected system architecture that provides the interoperability and software compatibility needed in a complete security system, thereby reducing system-on-chip costs by managing the complexity of custom hardware security outside the CPU.

ARM TrustZone technology is a complementary solution to the Intel Authenticated Flash memory in that it provides an extra level of trust, including protected decryption of messaging and verification of code authenticity.

Availability

First introduced in the ARM1176JZ-S(tm) processor, the ARM TrustZone architecture extensions are present in all subsequent applications processors from ARM. The TrustZone framework can also be extended for ARM7(TM) and ARM9(TM) family processors through a combination of customized hardware and the TrustZone software. Intel Authenticated Flash memory can also be used in these platforms and is an effective solution for adding hardware integrity protection. ARM TrustZone technology is available for licensing now from ARM and consists of TrustZone technology-enabled ARM processors, TrustZone technology-aware ARM fabric IP and the TrustZone Software.

ARM Security Solutions and Intel Authenticated Flash white paper describing the solution is available here: http://www.arm.com/pdfs/Intel_ARM_Security_WhitePaper.pdf

About ARM

ARM designs the technology that lies at the heart of advanced digital products, from mobile, home and enterprise solutions to embedded and emerging applications. ARM's comprehensive product offering includes 16/32-bit RISC microprocessors, data engines, graphics processors, digital libraries, embedded memories, peripherals, software and development tools, as well as analog functions and high-speed connectivity products. Combined with the company's broad Partner community, they provide a total system solution that offers a fast, reliable path to market for leading electronics companies. More information on ARM is available at http://www.arm.com.