EnSilica PLC (AIM:ENSI), a leader in mixed-signal ASIC design, has launched a new range of post-quantum cryptography (PQC) accelerators, making the group a rarity in the UK to offer advanced cryptographic accelerators in the market as licensable intellectual property (IP) cores.
The first of these IP licences has been granted to a major semiconductor supplier.
This move by EnSilica addresses a critical and growing concern in the tech world: the vulnerability of current encryption methods to potential cyber-attacks from quantum computers.
According to EnSilica, advancements in quantum computing and artificial intelligence (AI) are putting the current public key-based cryptography, which is foundational to secure communications and financial transactions today, at risk.
Cryptography accelerators are specialised hardware components integrated into semiconductor devices, designed to efficiently perform cryptographic operations, such as encryption and decryption, faster, with less power and more security than software-based implementations.
The company's PQC solutions aim to mitigate this threat by introducing algorithms robust enough to withstand quantum computing attacks, a need underscored by standards published by the US Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
Cybersecurity risk is particularly concerning for entities like governments and businesses that deal with highly sensitive and confidential data.
Adding to the urgency of this development is the evolving cybersecurity landscape shaped by regulations such as the European Union's Network and Information Security (NIS2) directive.
This directive has expanded its scope to include essential sectors like pharmaceuticals, medical devices and energy, further necessitating the redesign of ASICs to comply with heightened security requirements.
Ian Lankshear, chief executive officer of EnSilica, commented: "EnSilica's commitment to technological innovation is reflected in our comprehensive range of cryptographic accelerators IP to address the next generation of cybersecurity threats.
"The commercial licensing agreement with this major semiconductor giant validates the intrinsic value of our intellectual property. EnSilica not only licenses its IP to other semiconductor companies but also leverages it in the development of custom ASICs which we supply to our clients.
"Having such IP is a key differentiator for EnSilica's ASIC business given the markets we address, as well as for bringing in high margin IP licensing revenue."