ST’s KERKEY provides advanced security for smart grid

KERKEY from STMicroelectronics is an advanced security module that prevents malicious attacks on smart-grid gateways, concentrators, and smart meters. While meeting very high industry-security standards, KERKEY can be personalized to meet individual customer requirements.

KERKEY delivers the benefits of a proven hardware foundation that satisfies CC EAL6+ Penetration Testing for smart-card ICs and FIPS-140 Penetration Testing for Multiple-Chip Cryptographic Modules.

Security

• AIS-31 class P2 compliant true random number generator (TRNG)
• Enhanced cryptographic algorithms:
• DES/3DES, RSA, ECC and AES
• SEED, SHA-1, SHA-256, MD5 and CRC16
• Password Authenticated Connection Establishment (PACE) protocol
• Differential power analysis (DPA) and differential fault analysis (DFA) countermeasures against side channel attacks
• Active shield
• ISO 3309 CRC calculation block
• Memory protection unit (MPU)
• Unique serial number on each die

Certified to Common Criteria (CC) EAL4+ and AVA-VAN level 5, as well as fulfilling the BSI Protection Profile for smart-grid security modules, KERKEY supports the Java Card operating system (JC2.2). This allows efficient implementation of cryptographic services using a Java applet, and enhances flexibility to differentiate features at the application level. KERKEY is delivered as a ready-to-use security module that requires only a small amount of final configuration.

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