Data security is especially critical in wireless networks. Applications like ZigBee and RF4CE mandate data encryption and decryption. Compared to software solutions, the crypto engine onboard the ATmega128RFA1 speeds up encrypted communications by factors up to several hundred times. The high crypto performance makes this device spend less time processing, and more time in sleep mode saving power. In addition, crypto can be added to high-speed communication without any performance impact. This is the perfect solution for wireless and battery-powered applications that need secure, encrypted communication and low power consumption. The security module is based on an AES 128-bit core compliant with the FIPS 197 standard, and provides two modes: Electronic Code Book (ECB) and Cipher Block Chaining (CBC). The security module works independently of other radio transceiver building blocks and can be accessed independently of frame transmission or reception. Encryption/decryption of 16 bytes takes only 24µs.