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32 min ago 2 min read
British startup SCI Semiconductor has raised £5m in funding to speed up production of memory-safe computer chips.
The company’s family of microcontrollers, known as the Iceni range, block cyberattacks by embedding memory safety directly into the physical hardware of the computer chip.
Instead of relying on software patches, complex code rewrites, or modern programming languages to secure a system, the appeal of the chips is they isolate and control data at the silicon level.
CEO Haydn Povey said memory safety is “finally being taken seriously”.
“As AI is identifying hundreds of critical vulnerabilities, it is clear that huge swathes of technology are open to attack,” he said. “Additionally with so much code generated by AI, the question is how much of it is fit for purpose and what risk that could pose to systems.”
The funding, led by PXN Ventures and Mercia Ventures (fund managers of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II), will enable the production and development of a new generation of chips in the UK.
Iran-linked hackers were recently suspected of that caused a British power plant to temporarily shut down.
The boom in AI and geopolitical tensions are giving rise to , the head of the UK’s cybersecurity agency warned in April.
The production of semiconductor memory chips relies on ultra-high-purity electronic specialty gases to create, etch, and clean microscopic circuitry.
