Security Protocols

Security protocols protect the data being transmitted through network connections. Some well-known security protocols that exist in this era are: TLS 1.x, IPsec, and MACsec, to name a few. Security protocols are essential for ensuring the confidentiality and integrity of communications, and for preventing unauthorised access, data breaches, and other security threats.

Xiphera’s focus on hardware-based implementations of security protocols enables better performance and increased security level compared to software-based security implementations. Hardware-based security protocols provide a robust and trusted layer of protection against security threats, as they have a smaller attack surface compared to software security attacks. They are essential components in safeguarding sensitive data, systems, and networks in a wide range of applications, from financial transactions to secure access control.

Xiphera offers a wide selection of security protocols for designers to protect the data in transfer through the most critical communication layers of the OSI model.

• MACsec (Media Access Control security) is a point-to-point protocol in the second layer, or data link layer, of the OSI model. Xiphera’s comprehensive MACsec solution protects both the confidentiality and integrity of data transmitted on a point-to-point communications link. The confidentiality and authenticity of transmitted data is protected by AES (Advanced Ecnryption Standard) in GCM (Galois Counter Mode) with either 128 or 256 bits long keys. The underlying crypto engines in Xiphera’s MACsec solutions are based on Xiphera’s AES-GCM IP cores.
• TLS (Transport Layer Security) is used for securing communication from eavesdropping or manipulation in a large variety of different applications, including secure web browsing as well as machine-to-machine communication protocols. The cryptographic computations and key management in Xiphera’s TLS solution are entirely hardware-based, which enables complete independence from software for security-critical operations. The TLS IP cores provide throughputs from a few Gbps up to several tens of Gbps. Despite the rich feature set, Xiphera’s TLS products are compact in size and can be used even in resource constrained devices.

• IPsec (Internet Protocol security) is the prevalent security protocol for communications over an Internet Protocol (IP) network, securing IP traffic by authenticating and encrypting each IP packet within a communication session. IPsec is widely adopted and supported in a variety of operating systems and network devices, and it is commonly used to implement Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) for secure communication over the Internet.

Organisations and individuals rely on security protocols to protect sensitive data, secure communications, and ensure the overall integrity and privacy of their digital interactions. It’s important to choose and implement the appropriate security protocols based on specific use cases and security requirements. Cryptographic experts at Xiphera help our customers to choose the right approach for meeting their security requirements.