Tamper resistant enclosure for an electronic device and electrical assembly utilizing same

Abstract

A tamper resistant enclosure for protecting an electronic device containing sensitive information (e.g. an electronic cryptographic card), is provided. The enclosure includes an external cover and an internal cover. Four screws (one at each corner) secure the internal cover to the device and the external cover by means of standoffs. A washer is interposed between the device and the standoff. The device has a dielectric substrate with a metal pad around each hole for ensuring the electrical connection to ground through the washer, the standoff and the conductive body of the external cover. When one of the screws is at least partially removed and the internal cover is moved, the circuit is interrupted and the system assumes that a tampering is being attempted. The circuit is designed to give an alarm and/or destroy all the sensitive information contained in the protected electronic device.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.