Intel Security processor + a question

[Tyler Durden]

Intel is moving Security onto its Network processor chips...a quote also follows.

http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?site=lightreading&doc_id=22749



(Begin quote)
For now, Intel is tackling very high- and low-end systems. The IXP2850 is derived from the IXP2800, which targets 10-Gbit/s line speeds. And back in February, Intel released the IXP425, a network processor with encryption hardware included, targeting low-end boxes such as enterprise routers (see Intel: The Prince of Processors? ).

For both chips, Intel developed its own hardware to handle the DES, triple DES, AES, and SHA-1 encryption standards. In the case of the IXP2850, Intel had left room in the IXP 2800 to add these hardware blocks, because potential customers had shown enough interest in security. We thought about adding crypto [to the IXP2800] as we were building it from the ground up, says Rajneesh Gaur, Intel senior product marketing manager.
(End quote)


Got a question for the cognoscenti amongst us...
If crypto is performed by hardware, how sure can users/designers be that it is truly secure (since one can't examine the code)? Is there any way to determine whether standard forms of encryption have been monkeyed with in some way (ie, to make those with certain backdoor keys have access at will, and yet still conform to he standard as far users can see)?
And, are hardware-based encryption implementations considered suspect from the standard by the more "careful" parts of the crypto community?


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