Designed with encryption in mind and built around a single, compact Intel/Altera MAX10 FPGA chip, Kryptor is a professional FPGA development board capable of offering some functionalities of a dedicated Hardware Security Module (HSM) when running our custom soft-cores. Combined with that verifiable HSM hardware, Kryptor brings an easy-to-use, plug-and-play encryption solution to the IoT-developer and maker communities.

Technical Specifications

• FPGA: model Intel/Altera MAX10 8K LE (code: 10M08DAF256C8G)
• Dimensions: 22.8 x 31.2 mm
• Internal flash: 1376 Kb
• Internal RAM: 378 Kb total
• GPIO: 250 available from the FPGA (fewer accessible via the board)
• Operating frequency: 100 MHz
• Control: API compiled library / Linux Command Line Interface (CLI)
• Platform compatibility: Linux, Raspberry Pi (RPi), Arduino, etc.
• Electrical interfaces: 1x SPI
• Encryption speed: Camellia symmetric encryption speed up to 108 Mbps on a single core (SPI link speed capped at 100 Kbps)
• Non persistent storage: In this HSM version the storage is not persistent and the keys are erased when the PCB is rebooted
• PCB power consumption: 58 mW (FPGA idle) to 64 mW (FPGA encrypting) on the first prototype. More precise data will be provided during the tests for the CE marking.

FPGA Features

• 55 nm TSMC embedded flash (flash + SRAM) process technology
• Four-input look-up table (LUT) and single register logic element (LE)
• Flash memory data retention of 20 years at 85 °C
• Up to 830 Mbps
• LVDS receiver, 800 Mbps LVDS transmitter

Security Benefits

Hardware Over Software

Kryptor replaces all software-based encryption functionality with HW-based implementations and reduces its attack surface—to defend against viruses, malware-injection attacks, and exploitable bugs—by avoiding the use of an operating system (OS).

One Chip is More Secure

Both its RAM and its flash memory circuitry is self contained within the FPGA. This architecture is safer than relying on external chips, each of which, in turn would need to be physically secured.

Hardware Verifiability

One of the main strengths and competitive advantages of this board is the fact that, as open hardware, Kryptor provides even greater transparency and verifiability.

Finally, we greatly value our identity as a European company, and we carry out as much of our design and manufacturing as possible—including all of our assembly and testing—within Europe.

HSM Soft-Core Encryption Features

• Key-agreement scheme: Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman / Curve25519 (ECDH). ECDH produces a 128 bit secret shared key (ingesting 256 bits of pub/pvt keys)
• Symmetric key block cipher: Camellia (128 bits key size)
• Asymmetric encryption: ECC25519
• Cryptographic hash function: Skein (selectable and limited up to 4kB size)
• True random number generator (tRNG): With ring oscillators as the source of entropy (FIGARO)
• Optional functions: Additional functions/IPcores (Ed25519, AES128/256, AES-GCM128/256, SHA512, Keccak, PQC, etc) can be bought separately (contact us for a commercial offer)

Encryption Functionality

When running our HSM soft-core, Kryptor provides the following functions, all of which are implemented in Verilog inside the FPGA:

• Generate and store up to four symmetric encryption keys within the FPGA, to accelerate work on up to four encryption streams
• Generate and store up to four asymmetric encryption key pairs within the FPGA to accelerate work on up to four encryption streams
• Generate random numbers based on a true random number generator (tRNG)
• Generate and store one or more asymmetric key pairs (the private key of which will never be exposed)
• Perform hashing operations
• Encrypt and decrypt a file using a stored key
• Generate a secret shared key via the ECDH (the base function used in TLS 1.3)
• Load any public key or extract any public key from those generated internally

Please note: for security reasons, the private key of any asymmetric key pair cannot be extracted.

Raspberry Pi API & Arduino Library

To make Kryptor more accessible to IoT developers and makers, we provide a free, easy-to-use, Raspberry-Pi-compatible API for Linux, which allows almost anyone to get started in mere minutes. We also provide an Arduino library. See our demos and technical documentation for more details.

In the screenshots below, you can see how simple it is to interact with our HSM using a Raspberry Pi connected via SPI:

Out-of-the-box Configuration

Please note: due to the import/export legislation regulating all the products that include data-encryption capabilities, we ship Kryptor without the encryption soft-core pre-installed.

If you backed the SKUDO Kryptor crowdfunding campaign, you are given the option to download the HSM soft-core free of charge from skudo.tech, along with instructions that will walk you through the simple process of flashing that soft-core onto your board (without the need for a JTAG adapter).

If you are purchasing a SKUDO Kryptor FPGA board after the campaign has ended, you can purchase the HSM soft-core from skudo.tech.

And of course, all Kryptor owners are free to use the board in any way they like. Use it as a MAX10 FPGA development board or load your own soft-core. And, if you want to load our HSM soft-core at a later date, you can do so using our JTAG adapter board (sold separately).

Comparisons

Support & Documentation

You can find more technical details about SKUDO Kryptor—including a datasheet—on our website. Check also all the tutorials on our web page. For feedback, comments, and questions, you are welcome to contact us via:

• Telegram
• Twitter: @SkudoTech
• Reddit: u/Skudo_HSM
• Youtube

You can also reach out using the Ask a technical question link below.