Skudo OÜ
Security & Privacy
FPGA Boards

Kryptor FPGA

A one-chip hardware security module (HSM) and MAX10 FPGA dev board

$14,236 raised

of $13,000 goal

109% Funded! Order Below

Available for pre-order.

$179

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Designed with encryption in mind and built around a single, compact Intel/Altera MAX10 FPGA chip, Kryptor is a professional FPGA development board capable of offering some functionalities of a dedicated Hardware Security Module (HSM) when running our custom soft-cores. Combined with that verifiable HSM hardware, Kryptor brings an easy-to-use, plug-and-play encryption solution to the IoT-developer and maker communities.

Technical Specifications

FPGA Features

Security Benefits

Hardware Over Software

Kryptor replaces all software-based encryption functionality with HW-based implementations and reduces its attack surface—to defend against viruses, malware-injection attacks, and exploitable bugs—by avoiding the use of an operating system (OS).

One Chip is More Secure

Both its RAM and its flash memory circuitry is self contained within the FPGA. This architecture is safer than relying on external chips, each of which, in turn would need to be physically secured.

Hardware Verifiability

One of the main strengths and competitive advantages of this board is the fact that, as open hardware, Kryptor provides even greater transparency and verifiability.

Finally, we greatly value our identity as a European company, and we carry out as much of our design and manufacturing as possible—including all of our assembly and testing—within Europe.

HSM Soft-Core Encryption Features

Encryption Functionality

When running our HSM soft-core, Kryptor provides the following functions, all of which are implemented in Verilog inside the FPGA:

Please note: for security reasons, the private key of any asymmetric key pair cannot be extracted.

Raspberry Pi API & Arduino Library

To make Kryptor more accessible to IoT developers and makers, we provide a free, easy-to-use, Raspberry-Pi-compatible API for Linux, which allows almost anyone to get started in mere minutes. We also provide an Arduino library. See our demos and technical documentation for more details.

In the screenshots below, you can see how simple it is to interact with our HSM using a Raspberry Pi connected via SPI:

Out-of-the-box Configuration

Please note: due to the import/export legislation regulating all the products that include data-encryption capabilities, we are shipping Kryptor without the encryption soft-core pre-installed.

If you backed the SKUDO Kryptor crowdfunding campaign, you will be given the option to download the HSM soft-core free of charge from skudo.tech, along with instructions that will walk you through the simple process of flashing that soft-core onto your board (without the need for a JTAG adapter).

If you are pre-ordering or purchasing a SKUDO Kryptor FPGA board after the campaign has ended, you can purchase the HSM soft-core from skudo.tech.

And of course, all Kryptor owners are free to use the board in any way they like. Use it as a MAX10 FPGA development board or load your own soft-core. And, if you want to load our HSM soft-core at a later date, you can do so using our JTAG adapter board (sold separately).

Comparisons

KryptoriCEBreaker FPGATinyFPGA BXNiteFury (Product page)
FPGA model Intel 10M08 Lattice iCE40UP5k iCE40LP8K Artix XC7A200T
Design year 2020 2018 2017 2018
Form factor Header or SMD Header Header M.2
Integrated HSMYES NO NO NO
Made in EuropeYES NO NO NO
LUT/LE8000 5000 8000 215k
On-chip flashYES NO NO NO
ProgrammableYES YES YES YES
Chip clock100 MHz 12 MHz 16 MHz 90 MHz
SPI interfaceYES YES YES NO
JTAGYES YES YES NO
Open hardwareYES YES YES YES
Size23 x 35 mm 50 x 40 mm 36 x 18 mm 22 x 80 mm
Price$129 $69 $39 $349

Support & Documentation

You can find more technical details about SKUDO Kryptor—including a datasheet—on our website. For feedback, comments, and questions, you are welcome to contact us via:

You can also reach out using the Ask a technical question link below.

Manufacturing Plan

One of our strong values is for our technology to be "Made in Europe", and so our plan is to design, develop, assemble, and test SKUDO Kryptor entirely within Europe. All our prototype work was carried out between Estonia, Belgium, Hungary, and Italy. For the production of the final product, we intend to stick with our current suppliers, with whom we have developed a solid, proven relationship. We will have two options:

In either case, the end products will then arrive at our office in Estonia, where they will be programmed with a basic FPGA soft-core that allows backers to load our HSM soft-core without the need for a JTAG adapter.

Fulfillment & Logistics

Once the SKUDO Kryptor PCBs have been fabricated, assembled, tested, and packaged, they will be sent in bulk to Crowd Supply’s fulfillment partner, Mouser Electronics, along with the rest of the products we are making available through this campaign. (For more information, please see Crowd Supply’s Ordering, paying, and shipping guide.) From there, Mouser will ship everything to backers, who will then have the option to redeem their free vouchers to receive an HSM programming file from our website, which they can upload to their SKUDO Kryptor boards using, for example, a standard Raspberry Pi. Post-campaign purchases will ship to customers shortly after that.

Risks & Challenges

We have done a lot of work to design this product, and we have tested and verified quite a few iterations. As a result, there is little risk that we will have to make any modifications down the line due to sourcing challenges.

The electronics used in Kryptor are very common, so setbacks due to manufacturing errors are also quite unlikely. As always, product delivery slow-downs caused by shipping delays remain a possibility.

Rest assured that we will update you regularly on our progress.

In the Press

Hackster News

"Add complex encryption with a simple serial-based API."

seguridadprofesionalhoy

"Basado en una FPGA, este módulo de seguridad y encriptación dispone de un verdadero generador de números aleatorios, permitiendo descargar al software de la tarea que realiza este elemento de hardware."

Electronics-Lab.com

"Designed for processors that support serial interfaces, the one-chip module offers all the functionalities of a dedicated HSM within a single compact MAX10 FPGA chip."

LinuxGizmos.com

"In order to make Kryptor FPGA more accessible to IoT developers and makers, the company says it’s providing a free Raspberry-Pi-compatible API for Linux."

CNX Software

"Kyrptor...is a compact Intel/Altera MAX10 FPGA development board mostly designed for encryption, and acting as a dedicated Hardware Security Module (HSM) with a custom soft-core from Skudo OÜ."


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Produced by Skudo OÜ in Tallinn, Estonia.

Sold and shipped by Crowd Supply.

SKUDO Kryptor FPGA Board

One SKUDO Kryptor FPGA board, one BB-170 Solderless Plug-In Breadboard, and six male/female 10 cm jumper wires. Skudo HSM softcore available for purchase from https://skudo.tech.

$179 Free US Shipping / $10 Worldwide

SKUDO Kryptor JTAG adapter

Adapter with pogo pins that connects a USB Blaster to the SKUDO Kryptor FPGA board to reprogram it using its JTAG interface.

$32 Free US Shipping / $10 Worldwide

About the Team

Skudo OÜ

Tallinn, Estonia  ·   skudo.tech

Skudo is an European company offering deep-tech cybersecurity and hardware based encryption for high level niche markets (space, critical infrastructure, IoT etc.) We realized that for guaranteeing the highest level of security that these fields require, the hardware encryption is a must, but the commercial hardware encryption solutions available on the market did not match our clients needs. Hence, we decided to build it ourselves.

Stefano Alberico
Piret Uustal
Vlad

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