Very small and equipped with all protection and licensing options, the CmASIC is particularly suitable for embedded software and the Internet of Things (IoT), which makes it a suitable candidate for the GIT Security Award 2023.

With their tiny chip-size housing, the CmASICs are the smallest protection hardware in CodeMeter technology. They are low-power, have an extended temperature range, are CC EAL5+ certified and have two interfaces for flexible connectivity: USB or SPI for even slimmer embedded systems. This design was developed to facilitate mounting on PCBs or other systems or embedded devices - an alternative to the slightly larger CmDongles or CmCards.

The CmASICs are fully compatible with the CodeMeter license container: the hardware CmDongle, the software-based CmActLicense container and the CmCloudContainer. Manufacturers can use all the functions of CodeMeter technology, including the award-winning Blurry Box software protection method and all licensing options. For the special requirements of embedded systems, the CodeMeter software is available as a leaner and customizable version CodeMeter Embedded for many operating systems and processor architectures.

For use in IoT and embedded systems, CmASICs are becoming an important element for licensing and protection in the automation industry. In this industry, the issues of trustworthiness and secure and verifiable digital identities are becoming increasingly important. Only with suitable solutions for the identification and authentication of devices, actors and data in a networked industrial system can operational security and integrity be maintained. CmASICs also serve modern service-oriented business models such as Manufacturing-as-a-Service, which depend on a reliable and fully traceable flow of digital objects in data marketplaces, ordering and merchandise management systems in the back office and to the machines in the factories.

Wibu-Systems has pioneered innovative concepts for secure, data-driven business models in numerous national and international research projects and in practice. The CmASICs can be used for all CodeMeter functions, such as CodeMoving, which ensures the highest level of protection. With this method, particularly sensitive parts of the code are executed within the secure environment of the protection hardware. The special feature of CmASICs is that the code is both moved to a hard-to-reach location and the protection hardware is installed as an HSM module in the device; it is therefore secure inside a machine.

The GIT Security Award is presented each year to manufacturers of innovative security solutions, which is in line with Wibu-Systems' vision and objectives. The many advantages of the CmASICs make this hardware a promising candidate for the GIT Security Award. Wibu-Systems was already nominated for this award last year with AxProtector Python.

Oliver Winzenried, CEO and co-founder of Wibu-Systems, believes that this is exactly the right time for the CmASICs to be awarded: "Nowadays, secure identities, digital certificates and trustworthy systems are an important topic for the industry. Our CmASIC, together with the entire CodeMeter technology, is the building block - in the truest sense of the word - that can provide all this for embedded systems in industry. Many of our customers are already benefiting from the use of CmASICs."