It provides an excellent cost point for use as a coprocessor in complex point-of-sale terminals or as the main microcontroller in encrypting PIN pad applications. The MAXQ1850 is also ideal for government applications and digital rights management.
The MAXQ1850’s security mechanisms protect against both logical and physical attacks: encryption engines are resistant to side-channel attacks and cryptanalysis; environmental sensors protect against physical manipulation; and secure tamper triggers offer many options for application-specific tamper-detection circuits. Most important for secret key protection is the MAXQ1850’s custom-designed, battery-backed nonvolatile NV SRAM–the best kind of memory for secret storage because it can be erased quickly in reaction to tampering.
The MAXQ1850’s combination of NV SRAM for secret storage, tamper-detection technology, and hardware encryption accelerators make it the best choice for financial terminal applications and any other application requiring security certifications such as PCI, FIPS 140-2, or Common Criteria.