Secure Element

A secure element is a small, tamper-resistant chip designed to store secret data, such as cryptographic keys, and to run sensitive operations without exposing that data to the rest of the device. It is built to resist physical attacks, including probing, power analysis and fault injection, and is often certified under the Common Criteria security standard. Secure elements sit inside EMV chip bank cards, SIM cards, passports and many smartphones, where they protect card details for mobile wallets and contactless payments. In crypto, several hardware wallet makers use a secure element to hold the private key and sign transactions, so the key never leaves the chip. Critics point out that secure element designs are usually closed and covered by non-disclosure agreements, so users must trust the chip maker, and some wallets have preferred open hardware for that reason. Also see side channel attack.