Tongxin Micro’s Chip Climbs to Top of Security Certification System

Tongxin Micro’s THD89 is the first CC EAL 6-certified product in China, making it one of the world’s products with the highest level of security. It represents China’s historical breakthrough in this field and another milestone of Chinese chips in security certification. This certification not only demonstrates the strength of Chinese chips but also lays a foundation for Tongxin Micro’s chips to go international.

"This is inspiring news for domestic chip makers," Ding Yimin, Executive Vice President of Tongxin Micro, said: "There are only a few SOGIS CC EAL 6+chip makers in the world. Tongxin Micro is highly recognized by CCRA after undergoing a lot of tests, which shows that Chinese chips led by Tongxin Micro’s security chips have satisfied international standards in terms of security and will become more competitive in the international market."

Climb to Top of Security Certification System

CC (Common Criteria) is now the most comprehensive evaluation guideline established by ISO after combining existing information security guidelines and standards. Common Criteria lists seven levels of EAL. The higher the level, the more security requirements that the certification will need to satisfy, and the more reliable the product will be. To achieve a specific EAL level, the product or system needs to meet specific security assurance requirements.

CCRA (Common Criteria Recognition Arrangement) is composed of 31 member states who mutually recognize the CC evaluation results. SOGIS (Senior Official Group Information Systems Security) is a senior official organization among CCRA signatories. SOGIS is mainly responsible for the standardization of CC protection profiles and authentication strategies, and the published technical documents cover such areas as technical requirements, key technical points of the attack methods and the technical requirements for website security. Compared with traditional CC certification, SOGIS features stricter security requirements for specific application fields, more careful review by certification agencies, longer time needed by the certification, higher level of security protection and more authoritative certification.

Compared with SOGIS CC EAL 5, the international SOGIS CC EAL 6+ certification has stricter testing standards as attested by additional evaluation on the sophistication of chip codes and the verification over the formal security policy model to enable more comprehensive evaluation on the security of the products. Therefore SOGIS CC EAL 6+ represents the most difficult and stringent certification for security chips around the globe. Tongxin Micro is in an international leading position in such terms as R&D, design and production, and even meets the world-class standards regarding the security chips.

Tongxin Micro Demonstrates Strength of Chinese Chips to the World

Integrated circuits are the foundation of industrial development, the core of complete equipment and the guarantee of national security. As a well-known enterprise in the industry, Tongxin Micro has been committed to building a pedigree of high-end chip products. From the birth to the implementation of the products, strict testing is necessary to ensure the quality and security of the products. The THD89 product certified this time is the best interpretation of this target positioning.

This product supports international and Chinese cryptographic algorithms, THD89 is compatible with mainstream standard interfaces and adopts technical measures such as memory encryption, bus encryption, electrical environment monitoring, defensive differential power consumption analysis and anti-fault injection. With outstanding performance in security, reliability and ease of use, THD89 can be used in such fields as financial security, mobile communications, automotive electronics and identity verification to provide the top-level design for smart Internet of everything. It is safe, reliable, and easy to use. The SOGIS CC EAL 6+ certificate translates into broad IoT applications in the context of 5G and new infrastructure in the future.

In fact, THD8X series is a blockbuster of Tongxin Micro as a result of generations of painstaking efforts. Its history of the international CC certificates is just a reflection of how Chinese chips are reaching the world.

Tongxin Micro won the CC EAL 4+ certificate in 2015 when it participated into the CC certification for the first time. Afterwards, we made great strides as attested by the CC EAL 5+ certificate, SOGIS CC EAL 5+ and CC EAL 6+ certificates obtained in a short time. We were the first company in China passing these certifications. The higher level of security certification granted to Tongxin Micro’s security chips lays a solid base for Chinese chips to expand domestic and overseas markets and pursue further development step by step.

China's integrated circuit industry has a long way to go. As a pioneer in the new era, Tongxin Micro will stick to providing innovative and high-quality chips that will impress the world and join hands with partners to boost the development of the IC industry.