Wibu-Systems’ CmASIC: Great power in a tiny package

Wibu-Systems, the makers behind the popular CodeMeter protection and licensing solution, are serving users in every walk of life, from regular software publishers to high-end industrial automation engineers or electronics developers. CmASIC, the tiny, but powerful secure hardware element brings all of the technology’s protection and licensing functionality to the embedded world and the IoT scene, making it a strong contender for the GIT Security Award 2023.

With their tiny chip size package, CmASICs have the smallest footprint in the CodeMeter hardware lineup. Featuring low-power, extended temperature range, CC EAL5+ certification, and a minimal-impact design, they include dual interfaces for flexible connectivity: USB or SPI for even leaner embedded systems. The form factor was chosen to facilitate embedding on printed circuit boards or inside other systems or embedded devices, adding more physical security for the whole solution when compared to the already secure choice of an external CmStick or CmCard.

CmASICs are fully compatible with the entire range of CodeMeter license containers, including their hardware CmDongle siblings and their more distant cousins, the CmActLicense software containers and the new generation of CmCloudContainers. This also means the complete gamut of CodeMeter capabilities, including Wibu-Systems’ award-winning Blurry Box encryption method and integration with the wider CodeMeter license management universe. As a complement to CmASICs, the CodeMeter software is also available as a dedicated version (CodeMeter Embedded) for embedded systems in leaner and customizable configurations for a multitude of operating systems and architectures.

A popular choice for IoT and embedded computing solutions, CmASICs are becoming a mainstay for licensing and protection in the industry automation scene. There is increasing attention being paid in the field to questions of trustworthiness and secure and verifiable digital identities. The right means to identify and authenticate devices, actors, and data in a connected industrial system prove invaluable for maintaining operational security and integrity. CmASICs can also act as an enabler for modern servitized business models like manufacturing-as-a-service that depend on a reliable and fully traceable flow of digital objects through data marketplaces, ordering and accounting systems in the back office, and to the machines in the factories.

With Wibu-Systems pioneering novel concepts for secure, data-driven business models in numerous national and international research projects and real-world implementations, CmASICs are proving their value as integral parts of a CodeMeter-driven solution. CmASICs support all of the regular CodeMeter functionality. By applying advanced capabilities like CodeMoving, CmASICs double down on security. This method transfers particularly sensitive parts of code into the safe environs of a secure hardware element for execution. And with CmASICs, it is not just the code transferred to a conceptually unreachable location, but the secure element itself that is embedded as an HSM module right on a PCB and securely stowed away inside a machine.

The annual GIT Security Award is presented each year to the makers of products and top innovations that infuse people’s lives with stronger safety and security solutions – an obvious match for Wibu-Systems’ vision and purpose. The many advantages of CmASICs make the hardware a real contender for the GIT Security Award, following hot on the heels of Wibu-Systems’ recognition for last year’s award with AxProtector Python.

Oliver Winzenried, CEO and Founder of Wibu-Systems, believes that the time is right for a CmASIC win: “Today’s industry is all about secure identities, digital certificates, and trustworthy systems. Our CmASIC, together with CodeMeter’s technology as a whole, are the building blocks – quite literally – that can provide all of this for embedded industrial systems. For our customers, it is already a winning technology.”