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May - 2012 - issue > CEO Spotlight
Data Security in the 'Connected' era
Vijay Dube
President and CEO-Elliptic Technologies
Thursday, May 3, 2012
We have entered the era of the connected consumer. With the accelerating growth of smart devices such as smartphones and tablets along with their increased features and processing power, the door is wide open to a multitude of new services and applications. These capabilities continue to enhance the user experience and interaction between people and businesses in ways that were not foreseen not too long ago. Today, people connect with each other through wired and wireless networks anywhere and anytime to socialize, exchange ideas, stream HD content and simply to stay in touch. With the proliferation of these devices and related services, the data stored on them and shared between them becomes more valuable to their owners and more enticing as a target for hackers and malware. At the same time, businesses are dealing with a new fact of life: data crucial to the mission of the enterprise is spread across an increasing array of devices that the organization does not fundamentally control.

With the rise in the number of smart connected devices, the value of data stored in them and the multitude of new services and applications, robust security has become a very critical component that needs to be addressed and designed in from the lowest levels of SoC applications processor through to the applications that run on them and carry their data to the cloud. Trusted execution environments, including frameworks such as ARM TrustZone and Elliptic's flagship security technology tVault will continue to find broader adoption because they offer a highly integrated end-to-end security solution for connected devices and protect sensitive information.

The digital media market including home entertainment and car infotainment will become more dynamic and we will experience a rise in new business models and innovations (OTT, VOD, IP TV, mobile TV, content available from app store on smart TVs). The whole value chain of the media and entertainment distribution will be reshaped as the consumer continues to be more empowered by the smart connected devices, services and applications and expects to share content across "all my devices" in-home and outside the home. As the technical demands of the consumer and digital home continue to evolve, so does the need to protect premium content against theft while it is downloaded and streamed between connected devices. Security solutions such as tVault from Elliptic provide the essential security technology that allows consumers to enjoy high definition premium content anywhere and anytime, while safeguarding the rights of media producers to protect their investment in programming production.

In the high paced world of consumer electronic devices, one of the biggest challenges faced by entrepreneurs is to hit the time-to-market window. To meet these market demands, most SoC designers are increasingly relying on proven third party IP to bring products to market in the shortest time possible and with first time success. This is especially true for designing the security components which is a specialized undertaking and the cost of making a mistake is quite high. Many companies do not have the necessary security expertise in-house, and can mitigate the risk while reducing the design resources needed to build a large system on chip by using proven third party IP.

Founded in 2001, Elliptic Technologies is a provider of embedded Security Intellectual Property (SIP) including hardware cores and software to ASIC manufacturers and embedded system OEMs. Elliptic’s IP solutions help to secure products in the wireless, networking, home entertainment, digital media and platform security markets.

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