VIA released for free download, a VIA PadLock Security Engine SDK, which allows integration of its security feature set included within the VIA C7 processor family for Windows and Linux based security applications.

The company's Padlock security engine is integrated onto the die of VIA C7/C7-M processors, and promises data protection without taxing system resources.

The new VIA PadLock SDK simplifies the integration of support for the full feature set of the VIA C7 processor family based VIA PadLock Security Engine. Comprising a programming guide, source code for both Microsoft Windows and Linux operating system, and numerous sample programs for reference purposes, the enhanced VIA PadLock SDK also acts as a source for pieces of code that developers can directly copy into other programs. The SDK is also backwards compatible with the VIA Eden and VIA C3 processors.

The developer kit can be downloaded at http://www.viaarena.com.