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EINDHOVEN, Netherlands, Sept. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Philips Semiconductors, a division of Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG; AEX: PHI), today announced that it has received the world's first Common Criteria Evaluation Assurance Level CC-EAL5+ certification for Smart Card ICs, making its products the most secure IC-platform available for Chip Card solutions including secure network access and financial smart card applications.

The CC-EAL5+ accreditation was presented to Philips Semiconductors at the 2nd International Common Criteria Conference in Brighton, UK on July 18, 2001, by the Bundesamt fur Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik (BSI) -- the German Information Security Agency. The certification was awarded to Philips Semiconductors for P8WE6017, a member of its WE-family of highly secure and efficient smart card controllers.

The German evaluator, debis Systemhaus Information Security Services GmbH part of T-Systems, assessed P8WE6017 against vulnerabilities and the potential misuse of its built-in security features. It also analyzed its counter measures to related attacks through intensive white box testing and evaluated its associated production environment and development processes. The EAL5+ evaluation, which is built on the new Smart Card IC Platform Protection Profile (BSI-PP-0002), is endorsed by Eurosmart and complies with the internationally accepted standard CC/ISO 15408 and the requirements of the German signature law. The Protection Profile was developed by Philips Semiconductors, Atmel, Hitachi, and Infineon.

``CC-EAL5+ certification acts as a highly reliable marker for system integrators and is the highest practical and economically useful level available for Chip Card hardware,'' said Wolfgang Killmann, manager of the Commercial Licensed Evaluation Facility at debis. ``The presentation of the certification to Philips Semiconductors for P8WE6017 provides scheme operators and integrators with the opportunity to work and build on a trusted and recognized platform whilst making improvements in time to market with certified composite products.''

``The presentation of the world's first EAL5+ certification to Philips Semiconductors highlights the business' position as a world leader and trend setter with regards to security on Chip Card ICs,'' said Reinhard Kalla, general manager of Business Line Chip Cards at Philips Semiconductors. ``The smart card market increasingly demands advanced security levels and proof of third party evaluation and endorsement. This unique accreditation demonstrates Philips' commitment to formal industry evaluation systems and standards that enable our customers to develop certified, high security and cost-efficient products with a shorter time to market.''

Common Criteria designations were established in 1998 to gauge the security of Information Technology products. Accreditation levels range from EAL1 to 7 and were originally created under the Common Criteria Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) between Canada, France, Germany, The Netherlands, The United Kingdom and The United States. In recent years, the number of countries that have committed to MRA has extended to fourteen countries, enabling the cross border acceptance of related certificates.

About Philips Semiconductors

Philips Semiconductors, with revenues of US $6.3 billion in 2000, is a world leader in silicon systems and standard products for wireless communications, digital entertainment, computing and automotive applications. The organization designs, develops and manufactures silicon solutions based on its innovative Nexperia(TM) architecture to create living technology for its customers building products, service providers using the products, and consumers enjoying the resulting products and services. For more information: www.semiconductors.philips.com.

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