Quote from: witcher_sense on December 28, 2020, 01:40:40 PM

Quote from: dkbit98 on December 28, 2020, 12:12:23 PM

ColdCard Mk3: Microchip ATECC608A covered by epoxy, open source

I have some questions, not a tech-savvy person, just curious.

What part of Microchip ATECC608A is open source? As far as I know, Microchip has stopped publishing datasheets for their microchips after ATECC508A version, further versions are all NDA. Can I trust these secure elements if data is no longer available for everyone to see and check? How can I be sure that governments haven't forced Microchip to implement some backdoors to steal my crypto?

Found an old topic from Trezor explaining the reasons why they don't use secure elements https://blog.trezor.io/is-banking-grade-security-good-enough-for-your-bitcoins-284065561e9b

Kind of brings up an interesting point.
If I sign the NDA I get a lot more info on how it works. But there are things I cannot talk about.
Is that good or bad?

I understand that there are some IP things that they might want to keep secret for as long as possible, putting time and money into R&D and such and then putting it out there so some fab in a country that does not care about IP can crank out a million units. Not good.

I also know it leads to less trust because we can't verify anything.

-Dave