Intrinsic-ID Launches Quiddikey-FLEX: Flexible Key Management IP Core

New Generation Of Quiddikey® Hardware Intrinsic Security IP Core Enables In-The-Field Programming And Management Of Secret Keys For An Unlimited Number Of Secure Applications

Eindhoven, The Netherlands – 4th June, 2012— Intrinsic-ID BV, The Netherlands, a leading provider of security IP cores and applications based on Hardware Intrinsic Security (HIS) announces the immediate availability of its Quiddikey®-FLEX IP core.

Quiddikey®-FLEX targets smartcards, medical, FPGA, government, telecom, automotive, networking and communications as well as the mobile market space.

In the mobile space the target applications include authentication for secure social media, digital POS, secure cloud storage and management of files and streaming media content provisioning on phones and tablets.

With Quiddikey®-FLEX the secret key programming can be done by users and/or apps in the after-market (e.g. after a handset or tablet is already in the field). No personalization phase in a secure environment is required, nor an involvement from the chip or module manufacturer.

Every application can simply program its own secret key(s) into Quiddikey®-FLEX.

Quiddikey®-FLEX offers storage for an unlimited number of secret keys: device-specific or so-called ‘intrinsic’ keys and user-defined keys (e.g. with DRM info) of different lengths can be combined, supporting key lengths up to 256 bit symmetric, 512 bit ECC and 4096 bit RSA.

Quiddikey®-FLEX is available as purely digital logic IP to easily integrate in hardware into any process node. When considering typical mobile use cases the Quiddikey®-FLEX IP core offers secret key storage with an area efficiency of at least 5 times better than alternatives like e-fuse technology.

The Quiddikey®-FLEX product is also available in a software version and on FPGA platforms.

In HIS secret keys are not stored in embedded non-volatile memory but extracted from the hardware properties of a chip inside the device, e.g. a phone or tablet, like an electronic fingerprint of the device.  This fingerprint extraction is only done when needed; attackers have nothing to find because no key is stored nor present in the power down state.

This enables a superior level of anti-tamper and anti-cloning protection when compared to alternative key storage technologies.

Intrinsic-ID invented and patented this HIS – also referred to as Physical Unclonable Function – technology when it was still a part of Royal Philips Electronics. Intrinsic-ID was founded in 2008 as a spin-out of Philips and is headquartered in Eindhoven, The Netherlands.

About Intrinsic-ID

Intrinsic-ID provides security solutions based on top-level security IP and software for cloud storage, mobile payments and content protection.

Our Hardware Intrinsic Security products allow binding software, applications and content, to a particular hardware device.

Our HIS technology has received public endorsements by leading companies in the field of SmartCards, Automotive, Set-Top Box and Pay-TV, Networking & Communications, FPGA and Government applications.

We deliver complete one-stop-shop solutions including security IP, security architectures and reference applications to offer our customers a fast-track to market.