Automated Security Certificate Management for Embedded Systems

RomCert is a platform-independent implementation of the Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP) and the Simple Certificate Enrollment Protocol (SCEP) and makes embedding security certificate management into resource sensitive embedded systems and consumer electronics fast, easy and reliable while decreasing time to market.

RomCert

Billions of devices now have the capability to communicate on their own to retrieve the latest application data and firmware updates across the Internet. Each of these network-enabled devices (printers, health appliances, network routers and switches, and more) are now potential targets for malicious intent. The important and unprecedented need for secure communications has never been higher.

Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and certificate-based authentication play an integral role in securing and administering networked devices and services on the Internet today. PKI is widely deployed and many wireless and wired technologies depend upon it, including WiMax, 802.11i, SSL, SSH, DTCP-IP, WiFi, 3G and more. As an example, in many cases, PKI and certificates ensure networks and services are being accessed by assigned users and devices, in addition, to properly administering privileges. In real-world situations, certificates need to be updated to maintain the integrity of security policies as roles and operating environments change. Manually updating certificates, especially on remote network devices is error-prone, inefficient and simply can not scale with the rapid growth of network-enabled embedded devices in our high-tech environments.

RomCert is specifically engineered for resource sensitive embedded devices such as consumer electronics, dedicated healthcare products, energy and Smart Grid devices, military applications, and enterprise network management and control products.

As with the Allegro EdgeAgent Suite, RomCert works with any hardware architecture, RTOS, and TCP/IP stack; and automates certificate management in your embedded design. Offered as an option for Allegro’s RomSTL TLS and RomSShell SSH embedded solutions, RomCert can communicate with most any Certificate Authority (CA) via HTTP to request certificates, renew certificates, and retrieve Certificate Revocation Lists (CRL) that have been issued.