A comparison of security implementations of embedded networked devices

Current security concerns are forcing the re-design of secure networked embedded devices. Security is known to be computationally expensive and so substantial additional costs can be expected with post-hoc addition of security features. This cost can articulate itself in additional energy requirements, a concern for IoT devices, and increased computational power a concern for both cost efficient automation components and IoT devices. One typical approach is the use of secure elements to provide a speedup of cryptographic algorithms. Another approach is a security-aware co-design. In this presentation we compare design using secure elements with the co-design approach. We begin by outlining the two design methodologies and their effect on the implementation and the choice of components for secure devices. We then discuss computational cost, security of implementation, footprint and other issues like testability and maintainability to leave the listener with a series of implementation options and key points to be aware of. We provide measurement results to support our arguments