Hamburg, Germany, Delft, Netherlands, and San Francisco, U.S.: NXP Semiconductors, Brightsight, and Cryptography Research have announced the certification of several NXP SmartMX secure microcontrollers under the DPA Countermeasure Validation Program. The analysis, conducted by security evaluation firm Brightsight, validates the effectiveness of differential power analysis (DPA) countermeasures in members of NXP’s SmartMX product line.
Administered by security experts at Cryptography Research, the DPA Countermeasure Validation Program involves rigorous independent testing of products to evaluate their resistance to side-channel attacks. Its goal is to enable chip purchasers and downstream customers to identify devices with effective security.
DPA is a form of attack that monitors the variations in the electrical power consumption of a chip or device and then uses statistical methods to derive cryptographic keys and other secrets. Strong countermeasures to DPA are required to protect tamper-resistant products used in banking, pay television, mass transit, secure ID, secure storage, automobiles, consumer electronics, wireless telecommunications, and other applications.