Good Things Come In Small Packages

The SD Association recently celebrated the 10th anniversary of the microSD™ Card.  Founded in 2000 by Panasonic, SanDisk and Toshiba, the SD Association is a group dedicated to establishing SD standards and facilitating their adoption and development. In a thought leadership article of theirs, the Association shares interesting facts, including that the memory capacity of the microSD card had increased 6,000 times during that 10 year period, with the latest version available to consumers today containing 200 gigabytes of storage. 

Due to their tiny form factor, microSD cards have found their way into a growing list of devices that require expanded memory, from smart phones to wearable devices and many more. For Wibu-Systems the microSD form factor is a perfect solution for protecting and licensing embedded systems and the next generation IoT devices. Our CmCard/microSD contains an integrated smart card chip with approximately 384 kbytes of secure memory available for storing more than 1,000 licenses and providing the full complement of CodeMeter security functions, including symmetric and asymmetric encryption, signatures, and the storage of X.509 certificates. At only 11 mm x 15 mm x 0.7 mm in size, the CmCard/microSD will fit in the tiniest of devices, providing both security and flexible licensing options in space limited embedded systems and Industry 4.0 sensors.

Integrated security functionality and built-in SLC flash memory are standard features in all of our CmCard form factors that include µSD, SD, Compact Flash, and CFast cards along with optional SLC or MLC flash memory for our USB Sticks.

The combination offers our customers many benefits:

• Lower costs by combining functions on a single device
• Industrial grade design for long life
• Field upgradeability without any changes to hardware
• Dedicated data partitions offer application flexibility, such as storage for highly sensitive data on mobile devices
• Prevention of software piracy
• Protection against counterfeiting
• Additional security for gambling machines, ATMs or other devices frequently targeted for tampering and attacks

You can learn more technical details about our flash-equipped CmDongles in our latest whitepaper, CmDongle with Flash Memory in Practice. The document illustrates the technological alternatives, the modalities of use, the possible applications, and the commercial reasons that provide the commercial advantages for Wibu-Systems’ protection, licensing, and security devices.

 

The white paper specifically addresses:

• The types of memory best suited to commercial and industrial purposes
• The available partitions (encrypted, read-only, CD-ROM, and public areas)
• The complete calculation concerning the Total Cost of Ownership
• The advantages of a combination product
• The benefits in terms of increased security
• The versatility of the many form factors
• Real-world customer applications

Download the Whitepaper