CrypTech Project: Making the Internet a Little Bit Safer

ARIN Community Grant Program Recipient Report

Since 2014, CrypTech has been trying to make the Internet safer to use with its open-source hardware engine that will meet the needs of Internet infrastructure systems that use cryptography.

Overview

CrypTech received a grant from ARIN this year to help facilitate its ongoing project. Because of ARIN’s involvement, we were able to build six prototype boards of our newest design iteration, which includes new components for more security overall.

Hardware security modules can be helpful for companies and organizations to utilize encryption for sensitive information, but some don’t have the resources to implement them. We’re hoping to make the entry point easier for everyone with this open-source project.

A few of our accomplishments this year include:

Board designs moved to KiCAD and verified
New board design complete, including new MKM, new FPGAs, and tighter security embedded in the physical layer
Six new prototype boards created, debugging in progress
Testing is underway on the new components

CrypTech Alpha Board

Our overall project accomplishments include:

Open-source hardware and software published
- RSA signing remains the main use case (80 sigs/sec)
- Release 4 of the software, with updates coming once testing of the new board is complete
Hash-based signatures
- Implementation of David McGrew’s hash-based signature draft
- Quantum resistant signature scheme
External security code audit
- Cure53 report located on our website
- No critical vulnerabilities found

All of our hardware and software is documented and publicly available as open-source solutions, if you’re interested in learning more.

Benefits to the ARIN Region

The new technology that we have been able to create enables registries, network operators, and vendors to build security technology that is based on a fully open, auditable and reproducible design for commercial and research applications.

Our vision is to support the Internet community globally, and any operations of RPKI infrastructure or DSSEC infrastructure in the ARIN region could benefit from our technology. We’ve heard from feedback from our users saying: “The CrypTech technology allowed us to build a proof-of-concept Hardware Security Module for DNSSEC signing and identity management operations using RSA. This allowed us to implement a fully open source HSM.”

What’s Next for CrypTech?

We are currently in the testing phase for our new components. Visit CrypTech.is for more information on this ongoing project.

About the ARIN Community Grant Program

ARIN provides financial grants in support of initiatives that improve the Internet industry and user environment. Since its launch in 2019, ARIN has funded 15 projects. Visit the ARIN Community Grant Program page for more information and to find out how your organization can apply in 2022.

Post written by:

Phil Roberts
CrypTech

Phil Roberts works with CrypTech, an international project creating an open source hardware and software cryptographic engine. He is also an independent consultant, providing consulting services on Internet technology and security, business development, and business management.

Any views, positions, statements, or opinions of a guest blog post are those of the author alone and do not represent those of ARIN. ARIN does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or validity of any claims or statements, nor shall ARIN be liable for any representations, omissions, or errors contained in a guest blog post.

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