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|caption = The [[IBM 4758]] Cryptographic Module
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'''Hardware-based encryption''' is the use of [[computer hardware]] to assist software, or sometimes replace software, in the process of data [[encryption]]. Typically, this is implemented as part of the [[CPU|processor]]'s instruction set. For example, the [[Advanced Encryption Standard|AES]] encryption algorithm (a modern [[cipher]]) can be implemented using the [[AES instruction set]] on the ubiquitous [[x86 architecture]].<ref name="Intel AES Instructions" /> Such instructions also exist on the [[ARM architecture]].<ref name="cortex cryptography" /> However, more unusual systems exist where the cryptography module is separate from the central processor, instead being implemented as a [[coprocessor]], in particular a [[secure cryptoprocessor]] or [[cryptographic accelerator]], of which an example is the [[IBM 4758]], or its successor, the [[IBM 4764]].<ref name="IBM 4764" /> Hardware implementations can be faster and less prone to exploitation than traditional software implementations, and furthermore can be protected against tampering.<ref name="performance" />
== History ==
Prior to the use of computer hardware, cryptography could be performed through various mechanical or [[electro-mechanical]] means. An early example is the [[Scytale]] used by the [[Spartan]]s.<ref name="Kelly">{{Cite journal|last=Kelly|first=Thomas|title=The Myth of the Skytale|journal=Cryptologia|date=July 1998|pages=244–260|doi=10.1080/0161-119891886902|volume=22}}</ref> The [[Enigma machine]] was an electro-mechanical system cipher machine notably used by the Germans in [[World War II]].{{cn|date=June 2018}} After [[World War II]], purely electronic systems were developed. In 1987 the ABYSS (A Basic Yorktown Security System) project was initiated.<ref name="ABYSS" /><ref name="building 4758" /> The aim of this project was to protect against [[software piracy]]. However, the application of computers to cryptography in general dates back to the 1940s and [[Bletchley Park]], where the [[Colossus computer]] was used to break the encryption used by German High Command during [[World War II]]. The use of computers to ''encrypt'', however, came later. In particular, until the development of the [[integrated circuit]], of which the first was produced in 1960, computers were impractical for encryption, since, in comparison to the portable [[form factor (design)|form factor]] of the [[Enigma machine]],<ref name="Crypto Enigma" /> computers of the era took the space of an entire building. It was only with the development of the [[microcomputer]] that computer encryption became feasible, outside of niche applications. The development of the [[World Wide Web]] lead to the need for consumers to have access to encryption, as [[online shopping]] became prevalent.<ref name="consumers" /> The key concerns for consumers were security and speed.<ref name="consumers" /> This led to the eventual inclusion of the key algorithms into processors as a way of both increasing speed and security.<ref name="performance" />
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