GlobalPlatform expands TEE certification scheme

GlobalPlatform has expanded its Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) security certification scheme to enable evaluation of discrete technologies that come together to make up a complete TEE solution.

Stakeholders at different stages of the TEE value chain – like silicon, component and OS vendors, or device OEMS – can now certify their individual parts. This facilitates a collaborative ‘building block’ approach to developing TEE technologies that demonstrate the required levels of security.

The TEE security scheme has already been adopted by key players in the market, with Alibaba, Huawei, Samsung, Trustonic, and Watchdata achieving successful certifications for their products.

“By building products and services from certified parts and components, manufacturers can be confident that their products meet the robust cybersecurity requirements in place for connected devices,” said Richard Hayton, GlobalPlatform TEE Committee Chair. “This approach cuts costs and deployment times for secure products and devices, and facilitates continued innovation in an evolving device ecosystem.”

GlobalPlatform is working to simplify TEE deployment by reducing the time it takes to certify end products and devices, keeping a strong focus on the expected protection level of assets and helping stakeholders to confirm they align with regulatory, privacy and security requirements. It also assures device manufacturers and vendors that a product protects against threats and characterised attackers.

“This is a natural evolution of TEE certification. We launched the scheme to initially certify complete products and as the ecosystem and implementations have evolved, so has our approach,” added Gil Bernabeu, GlobalPlatform Technical Director. “By enabling certification to be achieved at each stage of the value chain, we are helping more stakeholders to demonstrate the value of their technologies, collaborate and build more secure connected devices.”