SealSQ – Hardware Security in the AI Era: As the recent debate around Anthropic’s AI model Mythos has shown, traditional software-based security mechanisms are increasingly reaching their limits in the age of AI.
AI-powered analysis tools can automatically inspect binaries, firmware, and protocol stacks, identify vulnerabilities, and derive potential exploit paths.
For manufacturers of IoT devices, industrial equipment, and infrastructure components, this means that security architectures primarily relying on obfuscation or simple secrecy, software-based key stores, or basic secure-boot implementations are no longer safe in the future. What is needed instead is a robust Root-of-Trust, “anchored” in silicon, that strictly separates key material and security-critical functions from the application.
SealSQ – Hardware Security in the AI Era
This is exactly where SealSQ’s hardware security solutions come in. At their core is a dedicated secure element or a microcontroller hardened in hardware and firmware that generates, stores, and uses cryptographic keys on-chip, never exposing them in plaintext outside the protected domain. Signatures, key exchange, and firmware update verification all take place inside this isolated environment. The application processor interacts with the secure element only via well-defined interfaces and never gains direct access to private keys. This preserves the chain of trust even if the application software is compromised.
Instead of implementing PQC algorithms purely in software, they are integrated in hardware and supported by dedicated crypto accelerators. This delivers two key benefits: first, performance and energy efficiency – especially for edge and IoT devices with limited resources. Second, significantly higher resilience against side-channel attacks, since the implementations reside in a hardened, certified security substrate. We have already introduced the QS7001 to you here.
Markets and what is coming next
For OEMs operating in regulated markets or planning long in-field lifetimes – for example in smart metering, smart city infrastructures, smart home systems, or defence applications – this is of key relevance. A hardware-based Root-of-Trust facilitates security certifications, enables robust secure boot over the entire lifecycle, and ensures that device identities, key material, and update mechanisms remain reliable even as threats and cryptographic standards evolve.
With VaultIC and Quantum Shield, SealSQ already offers a solution today to counter modern AI-driven attacks and future quantum threats: through clear functional separation, cryptographic strength in silicon, and a Root-of-Trust that cannot be circumvent by analyzing firmware or software.
We will be happy to advise you on the ideal security solution for your application. Get in touch with us and SealSQ to integrate both available and soon-to-be-launched products into your design today. Contact us directly by phone and arrange a personal consultation – preferably on-site, as security topics should be discussed confidentially. As alternative you can send us your inquiry directly here
