Applus+ Laboratories evaluates TMC secure microcontroller ‘THD89’, the first Chinese chip to achieve Common Criteria EAL6+ high assurance certification

TMC (Tongxin Microelectronics Co., Ltd) placed their trust in Applus+ as a security laboratory, in order to achieve the EAL6+ Common Criteria certification for their chip, THD89 (version 1.0 with Crypto Library version 1.01). THD89 is a general-purpose secure microcontroller, suitable for supporting multiple scenarios such as payment, identification and other applications. 

TMC’s secure microcontroller is the first one designed in China to reach EAL6+ evaluation assurance level (EAL). It is based on 32-bit technology with special co-processors for offering high performance especially in cryptographic operations, and ensures the secure management and storage of the data thanks to the countermeasures provided for protecting against high potential attacks.

One of the main differences between EAL6+ and the lower evaluation levels is that the manufacturer must describe the design of the product at a formal level -with logical proposals- and semiformal level, instead of using natural language. This allows the laboratory to evaluate the product’s characteristics in more depth, as they are described mathematically. The result of this evaluation allows the laboratory to provide a higher level of assurance regarding the product’s design robustness.

Applus+ extends its accreditation in order to evaluate IT products up to EAL6+.

In order to carry out this project, Applus+ Laboratories has extended its accreditation as IT Security Evaluation Facility (ITSEF) with the Spanish certification Body (Centro Criptológico Nacional - CCN) for Common Criteria evaluations up to EAL 6+. 
The extension of the accreditation to this high level of assurance highlights Applus+ Laboratories' deep knowledge in vulnerability assessments and penetration attacks on embedded systems and secure elements technical domain.

Applus+, a Common Criteria evaluation laboratory

Applus+ is an IT Security Evaluation Facility (ITSEF) accredited for Common Criteria and SOG-IS evaluations. We manage the process to obtain the Common Criteria Certification (ISO 15408:2005) for IT products. Depending on the evaluation level, Common Criteria requirements include:

• Products evaluation: focused on risk vulnerabilities mitigation.
• Developer design evaluation: focused on ensuring development process reliability.
• Development Site Audits: focused on ensuring supply chain integrity and confidentiality.

About TMC

Tongxin Microelectronics Co., Ltd. (TMC) is a fabless chip design company focusing on smart cards and related technologies. It provides chip solutions covering mobile communications, financial payment, identification, information security and IOT that are widely used in SIM cards, M2M devices, financial IC cards, mobile payment cards, social security cards, city cards, health cards, residence cards, SE, mPOS controller, USB-Keys, contactless readers, etc., serving the global market.