Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 855 has just become the first mobile SoC (system-on-a-chip) to receive smart card equivalent security certification thanks to its Secure Processing Unit.
Qualcomm says that their certified Secure Processing Unit will bring capabilities like offline payments, electronic IDs, transit, crypto wallets, trusted platform model (TPM) functions to the 855, all without the need for a discrete security chip.
“Completing the EAL-4+ security certification is a major milestone in our journey to bring smart card levels of security to our Snapdragon customers and users. Use cases that previously required separate security chips will now be possible fully integrated in Snapdragon 855 powered devices,” said Jesse Seed, senior director, product management, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “This certification is a testament to the industry firsts that Snapdragon 855 brings to market and Qualcomm Technologies’ continued leadership in embedded security.”
The certification brings the 855 one step closer to being a complete all-inclusive solution for smartphones, potentially eliminating the need for a dedicated smart card. This, in turn, should help OEM smartphone manufacturers who are using the Snapdragon 855, to save some cost without sacrificing security.
Hopefully, those savings will be passed down to consumers when they purchase flagship phones powered by the 855. And with the way flagship phones tend to cost these days, any savings getting passed down to the consumer will be very much welcome.
This solution can also be used for eSIMs, and Qualcomm is hoping that this will help drive more eSIM adoption, which is long overdue. To that effect, despite the fact that eSIM technology has been around for a while now, not all that many devices support it, and carriers have been reluctant to support it as well.
One thing is for sure, and that is that Qualcomm is continuing to build out the Snapdragon platform to be more and more of a complete, all-encompassing solution, and in turn, even more of a force to be reckoned with.