IBM today announced that its engineers have been granted a patent on an approach for utilizing the inherent structure of a printed circuit board (PCB) to protect cryptographic keys and codes in a manner that is designed to be highly tamper-resistant. The patented system does not require extensive use of resin or other materials to encase a module or package containing keys and codes, thereby providing the opportunity for significant improvement in manufacturing yield, as well as a decrease in repairs needed in the field due to package reliability. The invention could help protect keys and codes that encrypt data stored on any platform whether your data is in the cloud or an enterprise storage system.