Pioneering Post-Quantum Security
January 16, 2025
News
Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey. CAST announces its upcoming KiviPQC-KEM IP core and seeks the involvement of early adopters for product evaluations. Integrating the Module-Lattice Key Encapsulation Mechanism (ML-KEM) specified in the NIST FIPS 203 standard, this marks CAST's first step in applying post-quantum cryptography (PQC) algorithms to secure SoC designs.
Designed by KiviCore, the new core efficiently handles secret key generation, encapsulation, and decapsulation using any of the ML-KEM variants provisioned by the NIST standard.
Key Features:
- Secure-by-Design: Functions as an independent engine, with a small attack surface and the option for protection against time-based side-channel attacks (SCA)
- Configurable Performance: This hardware acceleration capability is designed for adaptability, allowing optimizing performance, latency, and silicon resource allocation based on application-specific requirements
- Easy-to-integrate: Employs industry-standard AMBA hardware interfaces and provides a comprehensive software API
This core is designed to CAST’s standards, supported by 24/7 access to CAST’s team and developers, and offered under flexible licensing, ensuring PQC cryptography.
Potential applications of the KiviPQC-KEM IP core include data communication connections with the MACSec and CANSec cores also offered by CAST, as well as IPSec, Transport Layer Security (TLS), and many other protocols.
“We have managed to implement the secure key management functions needed for the post-quantum computing era in a high-quality IP core with a focus on resource efficiency, simplicity, and seamless integration,” said Frank Deicke, KiviCore co-founder. “One of the earliest — and we believe the most reliable yet flexible — such IP cores available, this first in our KiviPQC series will dramatically simplify cryptographic system development in many fields.”
For more information, visit www.kivicore.com and www.cast-inc.com.
Chad Cox. Production Editor, Embedded Computing Design, has responsibilities that include handling the news cycle, newsletters, social media, and advertising. Chad graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a B.A. in Cultural and Analytical Literature.
