Utimaco Atalla, founded as Atalla Technovation and formerly known as Atalla Corporation or HP Atalla, is a security vendor, active in the market segments of
data security
Data security or data protection means protecting digital data, such as those in a database, from destructive forces and from the unwanted actions of unauthorized users, such as a cyberattack or a data breach.
Technologies
Disk encryption
...
and
cryptography
Cryptography, or cryptology (from "hidden, secret"; and ''graphein'', "to write", or ''-logy, -logia'', "study", respectively), is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of Adversary (cryptography), ...
.
Atalla provides government-grade end-to-end products in
network security,
and
hardware security modules (HSMs) used in
automated teller machine
An automated teller machine (ATM) is an electronic telecommunications device that enables customers of financial institutions to perform financial transactions, such as cash withdrawals, deposits, funds transfers, balance inquiries or account ...
s (ATMs) and
Internet security. The company was founded by Egyptian engineer
Mohamed M. Atalla in 1972.
Atalla HSMs are the
payment card industry's de facto standard, protecting 250million
card transactions daily (more than billion transactions annually) as of 2013,
and securing the majority of the world's ATM transactions as of 2014.
Company history
1970s
The company was originally founded in 1972,
initially as Atalla Technovation, before it was later called Atalla Corporation.
The company was founded by Dr.
Mohamed M. Atalla, the inventor of the
MOSFET
upright=1.3, Two power MOSFETs in amperes">A in the ''on'' state, dissipating up to about 100 watt">W and controlling a load of over 2000 W. A matchstick is pictured for scale.
In electronics, the metal–oxide–semiconductor field- ...
(metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor).
In 1972, Atalla filed for a remote PIN verification system, which utilized
encryption
In Cryptography law, cryptography, encryption (more specifically, Code, encoding) is the process of transforming information in a way that, ideally, only authorized parties can decode. This process converts the original representation of the inf ...
techniques to assure telephone link security while entering personal ID information, which would be transmitted as encrypted data over
telecommunications networks to a remote location for verification.
He invented the first
hardware security module (HSM),
dubbed the "Atalla Box", a security system which encrypted
PIN and
ATM messages, and protected offline devices with an un-guessable PIN-generating
key.
He commercially released the "Atalla Box" in 1973.
The product was released as the Identikey. It was a card reader and
customer identification system, providing a terminal with plastic card and PIN capabilities. The system was designed to let
bank
A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...
s and
thrift institutions switch to a plastic card environment from a
passbook
A passbook or bankbook is a paper book used to record bank or building society transactions on a deposit account.
Traditionally, a passbook was used for accounts with a low transaction volume, such as savings accounts. A bank teller or postm ...
program. The Identikey system consisted of a card reader console, two customer
PIN pads, intelligent controller and built-in electronic interface package.
The device consisted of two
keypads, one for the customer and one for the teller. It allowed the customer to type in a secret code, which is transformed by the device, using a
microprocessor
A microprocessor is a computer processor (computing), processor for which the data processing logic and control is included on a single integrated circuit (IC), or a small number of ICs. The microprocessor contains the arithmetic, logic, a ...
, into another code for the teller.
The Identikey system connected directly into the ATM without hardware or software changes, and was designed for easy operation by the
teller and customer. During a
transaction, the customer's
account number was read by the card reader. This process replaced manual entry and avoided possible key stroke errors. It allowed users to replace traditional customer verification methods such as signature verification and test questions with a secure PIN system.
A key innovation of the Atalla Box was the
key block, which is required to securely interchange
symmetric keys or PINs with other actors of the banking industry. This secure interchange is performed using the Atalla Key Block (AKB) format, which lies at the root of all
cryptographic
Cryptography, or cryptology (from "hidden, secret"; and ''graphein'', "to write", or '' -logia'', "study", respectively), is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of adversarial behavior. More gen ...
block formats used within the
Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) and
American National Standards Institute
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI ) is a private nonprofit organization that oversees the development of voluntary consensus standards for products, services, processes, systems, and personnel in the United States. The organiz ...
(ANSI) standards.
Fearful that Atalla would dominate the market, banks and
credit card companies began working on an
international standard
An international standard is a technical standard developed by one or more international standards organizations. International standards are available for consideration and use worldwide. The most prominent such organization is the International O ...
. The work of Atalla led to the use of high security modules.
Its PIN verification process was similar to the later
IBM 3624 system.
Atalla was an early competitor to
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...
in the banking market, and was cited as an influence by IBM employees who worked on the
Data Encryption Standard (DES).
At the National Association of Mutual Savings Banks (NAMSB) conference in January 1976, Atalla announced an upgrade to its Identikey system, called the Interchange Identikey. It added the capabilities of
processing online transactions and dealing with network security. Designed with the focus of taking
bank transactions online
In computer technology and telecommunications, online indicates a state of connectivity, and offline indicates a disconnected state. In modern terminology, this usually refers to an Internet connection, but (especially when expressed as "on lin ...
, the Identikey system was extended to shared-facility operations. It was consistent and compatible with various
switching networks, and was capable of resetting itself electronically to any one of 64,000 irreversible
nonlinear algorithms
In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm () is a finite sequence of mathematically rigorous instructions, typically used to solve a class of specific problems or to perform a computation. Algorithms are used as specifications for per ...
as directed by
card data information. The Interchange Identikey device was released in March 1976. It was one of the first products designed to deal with online transactions, along with
Bunker Ramo Corporation products unveiled at the same NAMSB conference.
In 1979, Atalla introduced the first
network security processor (NSP). In recognition of his work on the PIN system of
information security management, Atalla has been referred to as the "Father of the PIN"
and as a father of
information security
Information security is the practice of protecting information by mitigating information risks. It is part of information risk management. It typically involves preventing or reducing the probability of unauthorized or inappropriate access to data ...
technology.
1980spresent
It merged in 1987 with
Tandem Computers, who were then acquired by
Compaq
Compaq Computer Corporation was an American information technology, information technology company founded in 1982 that developed, sold, and supported computers and related products and services. Compaq produced some of the first IBM PC compati ...
in 1997.
The Atalla Box protected over 90% of all ATM networks in operation as of 1998, and secured 85% of all ATM transactions worldwide as of 2006. In 2001, HP acquired Compaq. In 2015, HP was divided into two companies, and the Atalla products were assigned to the newly formed
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE).
On September 7, 2016, HPE CEO
Meg Whitman announced that the software assets of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, including Atalla, would be spun out and then merged with
Micro Focus to create an independent company of which HP Enterprise shareholders would retain majority ownership. Micro Focus CEO Kevin Loosemore called the transaction "entirely consistent with our established acquisition strategy and our focus on efficient management of mature infrastructure products" and indicated that Micro Focus intended to "bring the core earnings margin for the mature assets in the deal - about 80 percent of the total - from 21 percent today to Micro Focus's existing 46 percent level within three years."
The merger concluded on September 1, 2017.
On 18 May 2018, Utimaco, a German producer of hardware security modules, announced its intent to acquire the Atalla HSM and ESKM (Enterprise Secure Key Manager) business lines from
Micro Focus.
The venture received United States regulatory clearance in October 2018.
Product overview
Atalla is a multi-chip embedded cryptographic module, which consists of a hardware platform, a firmware secure loader, and firmware. The purpose of the module is to load Approved application programs, also referred to as personalities, securely. The firmware monitors the physical security of the cryptographic module. Verification that the module is approved can be observed.
The Atalla security policy addresses the hardware and the firmware secure loader. This approach creates a security platform able to load secure code. Once control passes from the loader, the module is no longer operating in FIPS mode. Note: that no personality will have access to the module's secret keys.
The cryptographic boundary of the ACS for the
FIPS 140-2 Level 3 validation is the outer perimeter of the secure metal enclosure that encompasses all critical security components.
References
External links
Official website
{{HP
1973 establishments in California
2016 disestablishments in California
American companies established in 1973
American companies disestablished in 2016
Companies based in Sunnyvale, California
Computer companies established in 1973
Computer companies disestablished in 2016
Computer security software companies
Database security
Defunct computer companies of the United States
Defunct computer hardware companies
Defunct software companies of the United States
Encryption devices
Hewlett-Packard acquisitions
Hewlett-Packard products
Networking hardware companies
Software companies based in California
Software companies established in 1973
Software companies disestablished in 2016