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Atmel and Cryptography Research Announce License Agreement for Differential Power Analysis Countermeasures Patents

19th August 2009

Atmel Corporation

ES Admin

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Atmel and Cryptography Research, Inc. (CRI) announced today an agreement regarding the use of CRI’s patents to enhance the security of Atmel’s tamper-resistant chips against Differential Power Analysis (DPA) and related attacks. Under the agreement, Atmel receives the freedom to use CRI's patents as part of its strategy to develop and enhance its security chips used in smart cards and other applications. The license also covers software executing on Atmel chips, allowing Atmel’s customers to develop their own security countermeasures without a separate license from Cryptography Research.

“Security is one of our main focus areas, and our strategy is to develop the most advanced secure microcontrollers with state-of-the-art protection mechanisms against a multitude of attacks. This agreement enables Atmel to strengthen its leadership in the security market,” said Hervé Roche, Atmel’s Marketing Manager for Telecom and Banking.

“Atmel is a leading chip supplier in a variety of industries,” said Carole Coplan, Vice President of Business Development, Tamper Resistance Solutions, at Cryptography Research. “We are pleased to include Atmel among our growing list of licensed chip suppliers.”

DPA is a form of attack that involves monitoring the fluctuating electrical power consumption of a target device and then using advanced statistical methods to derive cryptographic keys and other secrets. Strong countermeasures to DPA help protect tamper-resistant chips used in applications such as banking, pay television, mass transit, secure ID, and wireless telecommunications. Cryptography Research has been awarded a portfolio of approximately 50 patents covering countermeasures to DPA attacks.