Secure element
A tamper-resistant chip that stores cryptographic keys and performs operations such as signing inside protected hardware, so secrets never leave the chip.
A secure element is a small dedicated chip, often connected over I2C, whose only job is to keep secrets safe. Private keys are generated inside it and cannot be read out; the main processor asks it to sign a challenge or perform a TLS handshake step and receives only the result. Physical protections resist probing and side-channel analysis.
For IoT the secure element solves the hard part of device identity: giving each unit a credential that cannot be copied to a clone or extracted from a stolen device. It becomes the hardware root of trust that secure boot and attestation build on. The trade-off is a slightly higher bill of materials and a more involved provisioning process, since keys or certificates must be injected securely at manufacture. Device identity, certificates and PKI for IoT explains how it fits.
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