1998-10-16 , E/IC-1032/39
Product News From Philips Semiconductors

Philips Semiconductors today announced that the results of TNO's evaluation into the physical security aspects of its P83W858 crypto controller, confirm that the P83W858 has a very high level of physical security. Based in the Netherlands, the TNO Evaluation Centre is the accepted international security assessment group for financial institutions and manufacturers worldwide.

These findings show again Philips Semiconductors' leading expertise which sets new security benchmarks in the smart card industry and takes innovations in smart card security one step further.

TNO's evaluation report is acknowledged by major banks and other system assessment centres as a basis for further evaluation of security and certification according to existing evaluation criteria, such as ITSEC. For card providers and users the importance of secure smart card transactions is vital, particularly for transaction handling over public networks such as the Internet and for E-commerce where the card represents actual cash.

Based on the  80C51 architecture, the P83W858 is the world's first smart card IC to use a new fully automated design technique called glue logic design. Glue logic ensures it is virtually impossible to tap into the card's information by finding signals or nodes to physically attack the IC with. The glue logic design process will be transferred to all of Philips' smart card controllers and crypto controllers during 1998.

The comprehensive security features of P83W858 also include anti-hacking sensors that disable the chip when it is used outside normal operating conditions and a unique 32 byte FabKey identifier which acts as a security key during manufacture and distribution. To meet the dual requirement for high security, high speed public key cryptography, the P83W858 incorporates Philips' FameX advanced crypto co-processor that is capable of computing complex RSA signatures with key-lengths in excess of 2048 bits in a few hundred milliseconds.

Convinced of the high performance security features, Datakey Inc, USA, chose to use the P83W858 as the cryptographic processing chip in their SignaSURE Model 320 Smart Card and Model 370 Smart Key smart-token operating systems. The two tokens are available for use with all of the company's SignaSURE product family, designed for applications ranging from token add-ons for software security programs to enterprise-wide information security solutions including access control, secure e-mail and file transfer and electronic commerce.

"Datakey chose the P83W858 for high-performance, advanced design and early availability together with high-security," said Carl Boecher, President and chief executive officer of Datakey, Inc. "We are leaders in token-based information security solutions and a prime consideration for technology leadership is high-security, high-performance today, not in six months time. Using the Philips P83W858 helps us to sustain our leadership."

Philips Semiconductors is the major company currently shipping cryptocontrollers in high volume for commercial use worldwide. Applications include banking and secure financial transactions, Pay TV security, network access and telecommunications. More than four million cryptocontrollers have been supplied to customers worldwide, representing a 55 percent share of the total cryptocontroller market.

Philips Semiconductors, a division of Royal Philips Electronics, headquartered in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, is the ninth largest semiconductor supplier in the world and the third largest supplier of discretes in the world. Philips Semiconductors' innovations in digital audio, video, and mobile technology position the company as a leader in the consumer, multimedia and wireless communications markets. Sales offices are located in all major markets around the world and are supported by systems labs.

Datakey, Inc. is an international supplier of electronic products and services. The company provides support, subsystem and system solutions to record, store and transmit electronic information. Datakey provides products and systems directed to the information security markets that enable user authentication, secure data exchange and information validation. It also provides OEM products, consisting of proprietary memory key cards and other custom-shaped tokens, that serve as a convenient way to carry electronic information and are packaged to survive portable environments.