Micron Technology, Inc. introduced the industry’s first silicon-based security-as-a-service platform for
protecting internet of things (IoT) edge devices. The new Micron® Authenta™ Key Management
Service (KMS) platform enables a cloud-first deployment model for a broad set of industrial and
automotive applications. It allows installed Authenta-enabled devices to be switched on through
a cloud-based service, mitigating some of the biggest challenges and complexities related to
securing devices in an “everything connected” environment.
The number of connected IoT devices deployed across markets such as automotive, enterprise,
industrial control and connected home is expected to grow from 23 billion in 2019 to 30 billion by
2020.1 Securing these diverse devices remains a concern for system OEMs who want a simple
solution that is cost-effective and independent of their choice of system-on-a-chip (SoC)
hardware. Authenta KMS, along with its hardware root of trust embedded in NAND and NOR
flash devices, equips OEMs to safeguard device functionality at the silicon level.
Current methods adopted by the industry for protecting connected devices have their limitations
and typically center on one of three common practices: adding secure elements, which is costly
and difficult to scale; leveraging secure key injection in the SoC, which creates a fragmented
architecture; or simply doing nothing, which puts devices below market and compliance
standards.
“Securing a diverse set of IoT edge devices through the complete product lifecycle — from the
supply chain to in-field management — requires a novel, simple, scalable and cost-effective
approach,” said Amit Gattani, senior director of embedded segment marketing for Micron’s
Embedded Business Unit. “Authenta KMS provides a trusted and unique silicon-to-cloud service
for all “connected things” using Authenta-enabled flash devices.”