Page 15 - Spring 2025 Electron

Industry News

such as smart home devoces, security cameras, specifically highlighted.
wearable electronics, tablets, phones, white goods,
He then explains the steps to compliance, beginning
industrial control systems, software applications and
with a cyber resilience risk assessment, which
operating systems. Additional stricter requirements
becomes ‘the backbone of documentation’. A list of
will apply to ‘critical’ products such as those used in
bullet points is then provided as a guide:
healthcare and energy provision.
• Secure boot, with firmware images
In Startups Magazine, issue 41, Jan/Feb 2025,
authenticated against an immutable hardware
Andrew Pockson, Engineering Manager at Anglia
- based root of trust, such that only the signed
Components, summarises the core provisions of the
firmware, application and file system can be
Act as follows:
loaded.
• Security by Design and Default - requiring
• File system encryption using a secret key
manufacturers to integrate security features
held in hardware, with the method of key
from the initial design stage and ensure generation being device specific. Keys may be
UPDATE ON products are secure by default. held securely by the application processor’s
• Vulnerability Management - requiring cryptographic subsystem and can be used
CYBERSECURITY procedures for managing vulnerabilities within the subsystem to decrypt data, which
throughout the product lifecycle, including in turn may provide keys to decrypt data in a
notifying authorities and users of potential risks. “Merkle tree” arrangement.
• Transparency and Information Disclosure - • Transport layer security such that data that is
requiring clear and detailed information about encrypted on the device at rest, but decrypted
a product’s cybersecurity features and known when later in use, is kept secure through its
vulnerabilities. interfaces.
• Compliance and Certification - requiring • Generation of a software Bill of Materials in an
The Role of Silicon Photonics in Fully processing speed, reduced energy consumption testing and certification to verify compliance, approved format.
Homomorphic Encryption and scalability, creating new opportunities for data with fines of up to 2.5 per cent of turnover for
• A starting-point vulnerability assessment
privacy and processing in areas such as healthcare, non-compliance.
Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) is a quantum- based on the above that takes into account
finance and defence.
resilient cryptographic method that allows • Incident Reporting - requiring significant common vulnerabilities and exposures taking
encrypted data to be processed and shared without Under certain conditions, light can transfer vast cybersecurity incidents to be reported to into account the threat model, plus a mitigation
having to be decrypted or exposed. This enables amounts of information at high speeds. Hence, by relevant authorities within 24 hours. plan.
multiple parties to collaborate using sensitive data using silicon photonics to power FHE the process can In Electronic Specifier Design, March 25th. David • A documented ongoing monitoring, reporting
without having to access it directly, resolving the be speeded up, as well as ensuring that data remains Pashley, Co-founder and Managing Director of Direct and mitigation process for vulnerabilities that
trade-off between data protection and utilisation. secure and resistant to quantum computing.
Insight, expands further by stating “no compliance, occur during the product lifetime.
With more organisations moving more of their Examples of recent applications include Apple’s no CE Mark and no shipping to the EU”. • A mechanism to issue and provide free secure
operations to the cloud, FHE has the advantage inclusion of homomorphic encryption in its iOS18, He emphasises notably that many embedded updates, which, for connected products, would
of allowing computations to be performed on demonstrating viability for mainstream applications.
products become part of a larger system once be ‘over-the-air’.
encrypted data even in untrustworthy environments. Features such as Caller ID Lookup, where encrypted commissioned, which brings them under the Act.
It therefore has wide-ranging applications across requests are sent to servers for caller identification,
Building blocks, such as boards, modules and
many sectors. For example, in healthcare it can now places this technology practically in the hands of operating systems, which now require a CE Mark, are
permit the secure analysis of patient data for millions of iPhone users.
advanced research, while in finance it can facilitate Reference: New, N., ‘The Future of Fully Homomorphic Encryption’, IoT
fraud detection with sensitive data remaining Insider, Q1 2025, p.28-29.
encrypted.
Unfortunately, there are barriers to adoption. First, it is Understanding the Cyber Resilience Act
technically complex and requires specialist expertise
The Cyber Resilience Act is a landmark piece of Visit our website!
for effective management and implementation,
legislation that has been introduced by the EU with
which makes it largely inaccessible for organisations
the aim of enhancing the security of connected
that lack dedicated cryptographic skills. Then, there
products and protecting the digital ecosystem.
is the issue of computational power and advanced Why not head down to our website and
hardware infrastructure, coupled with the slow The Act was introduced as a proposal in September read more news in our blog section?
processing speed that tends to characterise FHE, 2022 and adopted in October 2024. It is expected to
since performing computations on encrypted data is become law in 2027. It will notably set mandatory
more complex than with unencrypted data and takes cybersecurity requirements for hardware and Updated daily with hand-picked articles
longer. software products that are sold in the EU, and from around the web...
manufacturers, distributors and importers will all
Now, Dr. Nick New, CEO of Optalysis, is examining
silicon photonics as a means to help overcome have to ensure that robust cybersecurity measures
are incorporated in their product lifecycles. Products
some of these challenges. This involves the use of
light rather than electronics to transmit and process affected are all those that incorporate digital institutionofelectronics.ac.uk
elements, including IoT devices, consumer electronics
information, providing the advantages of higher data

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