LLC Announces a Research Development Partnership with Northern Arizona University

April 26, 2022 08:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

SCOTTSVILLE, Va.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Castle Shield, a leading provider of applications and services based on a Zero Trust Architecture framework, today announces a research collaboration with Northern Arizona University (NAU), which seeks to develop new approaches to identifying, authenticating, and protecting devices for enterprises and consumers. As part of the partnership, Castle Shield and NAU executed a License Agreement that covers the commercialization of licensed products and grants exclusive patent rights to products created under a Sponsored Research Agreement utilizing 12 existing patents and 8 pending patents. Patent rights are granted for all new patents created under a Sponsored Research Agreement until such patents are exhausted.

“At NAU, the cybersecurity team has generated 65 invention disclosures and filed 60 patent applications, 35 of which have been granted.” The research collaboration will be led by Dr. Bertrand Cambou, who joined NAU’s School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems in 2015. Cambou and NAU’s cybersecurity research team have been recognized for their track record in innovation. The School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems engages in a broad range of collaborative research projects with industry partners both Commercial and Federal. NAU cybersecurity team’s research in nanoelectronics and cybersecurity is well-supported by the multidisciplinary approach of the University.

The collaboration between Castle Shield and Northern Arizona University will focus on the following high-level areas:

Securing Encryption Keys and Devices Using a Tamper-Resistant Token
Adding Biometrics to the Tamper-Resistant Token in Subsequent Project Phases
Applying the Secure Encryption Key and Device Protection to Other Devices using Nanotechnologies such as Memristors and ReRAM
Adding Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) Support to existing Castle Shield’s Encryption Portfolio

The first collaborative project will be the co-development of a Tamper-Resistant Token that includes the following:

An addressable PUF (Physically Unclonable Function) generator with ternary states,
A ternary addressable public key infrastructure scheme,
A Response-Based Cryptography (RBC) engine for error correction,
A tamper-resistant key recovery protocol with a token, and a
Motherboard/Daughterboard tamper-resistant Key recover Scheme.

The first deliverables are an end-to-end solution that provides a tamper-resistant key recovery protocol integrated into an SRAM-based USB token, and the other provides the identical solution integrated into the Castle Shield’s end-customer motherboards or added to customers’ hardware as a daughterboard. “Castle Shield’s proactive approach to cybersecurity coupled with their strategic drive to integrate innovative advances in encryption into commercial products such as Post Quantum Cryptography (PQC) provides my team and me a commercialization pathway for our innovations. Castle Shield is at the forefront of finding and implementing solutions to protect the customer’s information for today and minimize attacks tomorrow. Our research, conducted by a team of PhDs and Northern Arizona University has a similar objective, and together with Castle Shield, we will form a powerful partnership to help companies and individuals proactively increase their cybersecurity posture,” said Dr. Bertrand Cambou, professor of nanotechnology and cybersecurity at Northern Arizona. “At NAU, the cybersecurity team has generated 65 invention disclosures and filed 60 patent applications, 35 of which have been granted.”
Castle Shield provides advanced solutions to partners and customers that protect their most valuable asset – their data. “We have implemented PQC algorithms into our existing Fides product family which are commercially available today; our symmetric and asymmetric encryption solutions are encryption agnostic thus enabling Castle Shield to deliver best-in-class crypto-agility for today and tomorrow,” said Dr. Milton Mattox, Castle Shield’s Chief Technology Officer. “Our collaboration with Northern Arizona University continues our aggressive goal in advancing research innovation with one of the nation’s most prolific inventors in the field of nanoelectronics and cybersecurity. Castle Shield’s mission is to provide leading-edge cybersecurity solutions to protect the nation’s most precious asset — its data.”

About Northern Arizona University

Northern Arizona University is a high-research institution providing exceptional educational opportunities in Arizona and beyond. NAU delivers a student-centered experience to its nearly 30,000 students in Flagstaff, statewide and online through rigorous academic programs in a supportive, inclusive and diverse environment. Dedicated, world-renowned faculty help ensure students achieve academic excellence, experience personal growth, have meaningful research opportunities, and are positioned for personal and professional success.

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