Few manufacturers of connected embedded devices need to be reminded that their products are exposed to the risk of cyber-attack. This security threat is often presented in terms of the danger that the device’s systems will be damaged or disabled, or the risk to the data that the device stores or transmits.
But when an embedded device includes edge AI capability, the biggest security priority might become protection for the IP embedded in the manufacturer’s AI models.
OEMs invest vast amounts of time and money in collating training datasets, building AI models, and developing algorithms to perform inferencing. This gives unscrupulous manufacturers a strong incentive to steal this expensive IP by copying it from insufficiently protected production units.
To provide the strong cybersecurity protection needed to safeguard the IP in AI software running at the edge, users of most microcontrollers are forced to deploy an external secure MCU or secure element. This enables the OEM to establish a root-of-trust, manage secret keys and certificates, facilitate secure boot, and so on.
It is rare to find a full secure ‘enclave’ with these functions, and more, built into a conventional MCU.
Battery-powered and wearable products running AI at the edge have the most to benefit from the space and power savings gained when this functionality is integrated into the MCU. An added benefit of a strong integrated security unit is the superior protection that it offers – the I/O connections between an external secure element and the MCU that it protects are themselves vulnerable to attack.
This is why the secure enclave, a standard feature in Alif Ensemble and Balletto MCUs, is such a valuable feature to manufacturers of edge AI devices.
The secure enclave is a dedicated isolated subsystem for important cybersecurity protection functions:
- Secure key management and storage
- Secure boot with an immutable Root-of-Trust
- Attestation at runtime using certificates
- Hardware cryptographic services
- Secure debugging
- Read-out protection
- Secure firmware updates
- Complete lifecycle management
The provision of a secure enclave in Ensemble and Balletto MCUs means that OEMs can protect their IP, as well as the device itself, without resorting to the use of an external security chip. As a result, they can shrink their board’s footprint, and make a smaller product with a reduced bill-of-materials.
To see how cybersecurity protection functions are implemented in an Ensemble MCU or fusion processor, try it for yourself with the Ensemble E7 Dev Kit.