Firmware—permanent software programmed into read-only memory that provides the low-level control for a device's hardware—is a fact of life for every embedded electronic device.
Equally a fact of life is the possibility that the device finds itself the target of malicious activity. Principles of cryptography often play an important part in the protection of a device against attackers when considering the design of its firmware. This article will discuss four examples of how embedded processing can be made more secure using cryptographic techniques: performing over-the-air (OTA) updates safely; encrypted communication on a host network; secure key sharing; and authentication.