Kryptor FPGA Moving Towards Production with Crowd Supply Launch

European-based Skudo makes products related to encryption, privacy, and security. They have launched the funding stage of Kryptor FPGA's Crowd Supply campaign. Kryptor is a hardware security module (HSM) designed to interact with a microcontroller over a serial interface. Kryptor is open source, meaning a third party can verify its encryption integrity.

Since we last looked at Kryptor FPGA, there have been some product improvements. For example, the electrical design moved to a four-layer board, improving its electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) performance. The already reasonably sized board also shrunk by about four millimeters.

Previously, the only I/O option was a single row of header pins. Skudo added a row of castellated pads, which opens up many more GPIO from the Intel Max 10 FPGA. Another change is changing the JTAG connector to a custom pogo-pin style adapter. The new connection looks more robust than the potato chip clip in the original design.

When received, Kryptor FPGA will not have the encryption soft core pre-installed. Uploading the HSM soft-core, however, can be done from a microprocessor board like a Raspberry Pi. One reason for this additional step is related to import/export controls. Another reason is that users are free to configure the FPGA with whatever they like. This flexibility means you could potentially use FPGA Kryptor has a small Max 10 development board, and do nothing with encryption at all!

For a better view of what Kryptor can do or how you might use it, Skudo now has tutorials available. In addition, their updates from the past year are another source of information about the product.

The board is available through the Kryptor FPGA Crowd Supply campaign, which ends on September 28th, 2021.