Zilog and Icon Labs announce first MCU SOC with embedded firewall

MILPITAS, USA: Zilog, a wholly-owned subsidiary of IXYS Corp., announced the introduction of ZGATE, a pioneering joint technology solution utilizing Icon Labs’ Floodgate Packet Filter, a complete embedded firewall providing a critical layer of security for networked devices.

ZGATE provides Zilog’s eZ80Acclaim products, already well suited for today’s wired and wireless applications needing Internet connectivity, with a security layer adding significantly deeper protection against ‘Cyber threats and attacks’. With many more applications, devices, products and processes demanding increased security, Zilog’s eZ80Acclaim, embedded with Icon Labs’ Floodgate technology, will help reduce the incidence of security breaches for many types of products in defense, telecom, utility, transportation, medical and industrial applications.

“Zilog and Icon Labs have been working closely together on this innovative MCU based solution to keep in step with the world’s need for stronger security solutions across many embedded applications,” said Steve Darrough, Zilog’s VP of Marketing. “ZGATE is the first and only embedded hardware communication solution that can protect connected devices from the growing number of Internet-based threats.”

“Icon Lab’s Floodgate provides protection from Internet-based threats by controlling what packets the embedded device is allowed to process,” said Alan Grau, president of Icon Labs. “Encryption and authentication may protect a device from a hacker trying to access the device, but Floodgate prevents the hacker from even connecting. Floodgate’s filtering engine can block denial of service attacks, packet floods, port scans, or other Internet-based threats.”