First general-purpose MCU to obtain CMVP Level 3 certification

Renesas Electronics Corporation has announced its 32-bit RX65N MCU has achieved CMVP Level 3 certification under the FIPS 140-2 security standard by the NIST. The device is claimed to be the world’s first general-purpose MCU to obtain level 3 certification.

Employing the certified MCU will make it simpler for customers to produce devices with robust and trustworthy security functions, which will add to a reduction in the development workload and decreased overall security risks.

“As more IoT devices gain network connectivity, the danger of malicious threats such as data leaks, data tampering, and spoofing grows, making security more important than ever,” said Sakae Ito, vice president of IoT Platform Business Division at Renesas. “The CMVP Level 3 certification of an RX MCU means that customers can build robust security into their products without the need for a dedicated security chip, and I am delighted that this will help speed up the development of secure IoT devices.”

The 32-bit device is a general-purpose MCU with security, connectivity, and HMI functions ideal for applications including industrial and IoT devices. The device includes the TSIP module, which was already CAVP certified. The TSIP, which includes an encryption engine with AES, RSA, SHA, and ECC support, a TRNG, and an encrypted key management mechanism, implements robust security functions. The device offers dual-bank flash memory that supports background operation and SWAP function to facilitate secure and highly reliable firmware updates in system control or network devices and stop program tampering.

As the device is CMVP Level 3 certified, other RX family MCUs with the same TSIP, the RX651, RX66N, RX72N, and RX72M can operate the security functionality equivalent.

The company also provides a Secure Cloud and Sensor Solution' that couples the device with its sensors to enable users to upload sensor data to cloud services securely and easily.