Winbond Announces New 1.8V Confidential and Replay-Protected Flasay-protected Flash Storage Products

Winbond Electronics Corporation, a leading global supplier of semiconductor memory solutions, today announced the introduction of new SpiFlash Flash storage components with Replay-Protected Monotonic Counter (RPMC) capability to meet Microsoft and Intel requirements for Windows 10 Secure UEFI Boot.

The new RPMC Flash parts operate from a supply voltage of 1.8V and are available in densities of 128Mbits and 256Mbits. These new SpiFlash parts add to the existing W25R family of 3V RPMC Flash parts in 64Mbit, 128Mbit and 256Mbit densities.

The security capabilities of the SpiFlash W25R Flash memory ICs fully comply with the RPMC specification defined by Intel to support its PC processor chipsets. The use of RPMC Flash protects critical data, preserves the confidentiality and integrity of the PC, and prevents rollback attacks to which standard Flash memory devices are vulnerable. The data which should be stored on RPMC Flash includes:

• the BIOS settings

• UEFI variables

• TPM (Trusted Platform Module) data while stored in external memory

The Winbond SpiFlash RPMC parts also conform to the Microsoft specifications for UEFI secure boot, which it says will be mandatory from 2020 on all client PCs based on the Windows 10 operating platform.

The Winbond W25R parts are pin-compatible with standard Flash memory packages, which means that PC makers can replace an existing W25Q standard Flash part with an RPMC-enabled W25R device without the need to re-design the motherboard. The Winbond W25R has integrated hardware security features including:

• SHA-256 cryptographic accelerator for executing Hash-based Message Authentication Code (HMAC). This enables secure authentication of data to be accessed and transferred by an authorized processor chipset.

• Patented 32-bit monotonic counter

• 256-bit shared RootKey which is not accessible by any means once provisioning is completed

• 256-bit HMAC key stored in volatile memory

William Chen, Deputy Director of the Flash Product Marketing Division at Winbond, said: ‘While the Windows 10 Hardware Compatibility Specification requirements for RPMC Flash do not become mandatory until 2020, it is foreseeable that PC makers will want to start integrating RPMC Flash into new PC designs immediately, to ensure that they deliver the best user experience to those customers who try to apply software updates to a PC purchased before 2020.’

The new 1.8V W25R128FW (128Mbits) and W25R256JW (256Mbits) are available in production volumes. The 1.8V W25R128JW (128Mbits) is available for sampling today.

All three 1.8V W25R RPMC Flash parts are provided in standard 8mm x 6mm and 6mm x 5mm WSON packages. The W25R128FW and W25R128JW are also available in an SOP8-208 mil package.