“Cyber-threats and attacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated and pervasive. Thales products are designed to help organizations stay ahead of the security game by protecting sensitive information from compromise,” said Cindy Provin, chief strategy and marketing officer at Thales e-Security. “By adding Rambus DPA countermeasures, we are able to protect against side-channel attacks, which adds an important element in our robust data security solutions.”

Dr. Martin Scott, senior VP and general manager of the Security Division at Rambus, expressed similar sentiments.

“Thales recognizes the various threats posed by side-channel attacks and has developed solutions that help their customers in businesses, governments and technology sectors mitigate the growing risk associated with these types of attacks,” Scott explained. “Strong countermeasures against these attacks provide the security needed to protect sensitive data and make sure attacks are thwarted.”

As we’ve previously discussed on Rambus Press, Differential Power Analysis is a form of side-channel attack that monitors variations in the electrical power consumption or electro-magnetic emissions of a target device. The basic method involves partitioning a set of traces into subsets, then subsequently computing the difference of the averages of these subsets. Given enough traces, extremely minute correlations can be isolated—no matter how much noise is present in the measurements.

Image Credit: Rambus Security Division (via “Introduction to Differential Power Analysis”)

A typical DPA attack comprises 6 primary stages: communicating with a target device; recording power traces while the target device performs cryptographic operations; signal processing to remove errors and reduce noise; prediction and selection function generation to prepare and define for analysis; as well as computing the averages of input trace subsets and evaluating DPA test results to determine the most probable key guesses. Additional DPA variants include reverse engineering unknown S-boxes and algorithms, correlation power analysis (CPA), probability distribution analysis, high-order DPA and template attacks.

Specific DPA countermeasure techniques include decreasing the signal-to-noise ratio of the power side channel by reducing leakage (signal) or increasing noise, for example, by making the amount of power consumed less contingent upon data values and/or operation (balancing); introducing amplitude and temporal noise; incorporating randomness with blinding and masking by randomly altering the representation of secret parameters and implementing protocol-level countermeasures by continually refreshing and updating cryptographic protocols used by a device.

It should be noted that Rambus has licensed a range of DPA countermeasures to a number of prominent corporations such as Boeing, NVIDIA, Idaho Scientific, The Athena Group, NAGRA and Winbond.

“Connected devices of all sizes can [now] be amassed into an army of bots that can bring even giants like Amazon and Netflix to a dead stop,” they explained. “This attack was predicted and warned against by numerous security experts since [Mirai] was published as open source code several months earlier, but that did little to stop its progression.”

According to Sperling and Dorsch, there are not enough layers of security being built into electronics to stop these kinds of problems, and no standard way of creating them.

“What’s interesting here is that the most recent attack went well beyond the usual software and network breaches. It targeted the firmware inside [connected] devices that were secured by weak passwords. And most security experts believe this is just the beginning,” the journalists observed. “[Nevertheless], digging into firmware is more difficult because it requires access to software stored and, frequently, hidden within a chip. That’s why systems companies park their SSL keys there, along with a history of private keys that can work with those SSL keys.”

Yet, security can be compromised if the keys leak.

“If you can crack into a key, you can replace the software and remotely control the device,” Asaf Ashkenazi, senior director of product management in Rambus’ Security Division told Semiconductor Engineering. “Keys are the Holy Grail for hackers.”

Many attacks against keys require a physical component, such as a grinder, physical probes and a scanning electron microscope.

“That’s an invasive attack,” said Ashkenazi. “There also are combination attacks, where you reconstruct keys from a string of bits, not from the software.”

In addition, keys can be extracted via side-channel attacks which utilize passive methods to pick up and monitor electromagnetic activity. Indeed, as we’ve previously discussed on Rambus Press, all physical electronic systems routinely leak information about their internal process of computing.

In practical terms, this means attackers can exploit various side-channel techniques to gather data and extract secret cryptographic keys from IoT endpoints. Regardless of specific instruction set architecture (ISA), most industry security solutions on the market today can be soundly defeated by side-channel attacks. Even a simple radio is capable of gathering side-channel information by eavesdropping on frequencies emitted by electronic devices. In some cases, secret keys can be recovered from a single transaction clandestinely performed by a device several feet away.

Worryingly, millions, if not billions, of connected IoT endpoints are powered by chips that are vulnerable to side-channel attacks. Such unprotected silicon can be found in a wide range of electronic devices including wearables, medical equipment, vehicles, smart appliances and rapidly evolving smart city infrastructure. Fortunately, specific DPA countermeasure strategies can be employed to protect IoT devices and related infrastructure. These include techniques to minimize information leakage, generating noise to drown out leakage signals, the use of randomness to mask computational intermediates, algorithm and implementation obfuscation as well as the use of protocols designed to preserve secrecy even in the presence of (some) leakage.

Interested in learning more? The full text of “What’s Next for IoT Security?” can be found on Semiconductor Engineering here. You can also check out our DPA countermeasures page here and our article archive on the subject here.

As Nathaniel Mott of Tom’s Hardware reports, Rambus’ countermeasures will help protect NVIDIA’s GPUs from side-channel attacks that steal encryption keys by measuring the power consumption of a device.

“Attacks like this can be used to break into protected systems and undermine the common encryption protocols used to secure private data,” he writes. “As computers control more objects–be it through AI, self-driving vehicle technologies, or the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT)–these side-channel attacks could simultaneously grow in popularity and in their ability to wreak havoc on people’s lives.”

By licensing DPA countermeasures, says Mott, NVIDIA is making sure it’s prepared for all types of potential attacks.

“It’s not enough to encrypt information, prevent it from being posted to the internet, or even making sure a device is completely self-contained,” he explains. “If someone can conduct a side-channel attack, there’s a good chance they’ll be able to gain access to devices to use them for nefarious purposes… Increasingly connected lives create a growing number of attack vectors, which means Rambus and NVIDIA working together to block these attacks is likely to pay off sometime in the near future.”

As we’ve previously discussed on Rambus Press, DPA is a type of side-channel attack that involves monitoring variations in the electrical power consumption or EM emissions from a target device. These measurements can then be used to derive cryptographic keys and other sensitive information from silicon.

This is why Rambus’ Cryptography Research division has developed a comprehensive portfolio of application-specific hardware core and software library solutions that can be used to build DPA resistant products. It should be noted that Rambus has licensed its DPA countermeasures to a number of companies over the past year, including Boeing, Winbond, NAGRA and The Athena Group.

Interested in learning more? You can check out our DPA countermeasures product page here.

As Dr. Martin Scott, GM of Rambus’ Security Division notes, NVIDIA products help drive performance for some of the world’s most demanding users including gamers, designers and scientists.

“The products, services and software developed by NVIDIA power a range of amazing experiences for artificial intelligence, autonomous cars, virtual reality and professional visualization,” he stated.

According to Scott, innovative companies are continuously assessing the security risks associated with increased levels of connectivity.

“By integrating DPA countermeasures into their products, NVIDIA is at the forefront of ensuring the integrity of their solutions in a variety of advanced application areas,” he added.

As we’ve previously discussed on Rambus Press, DPA is a type of side-channel attack that involves monitoring variations in the electrical power consumption or EM emissions from a target device. These measurements can then be used to derive cryptographic keys and other sensitive information from chips. This is precisely why Rambus’ Cryptography Research division has developed a comprehensive portfolio of application-specific hardware core and software library solutions that can be used to build DPA resistant products.

In addition to DPA countermeasures, Rambus has designed a DPA Workstation (DPAWS) platform for its customers and partners. Essentially, DPAWS analyzes hardware and software cryptographic implementations for vulnerabilities to power and electromagnetic side-channel attacks. Specifically, DPAWS enables users to quickly assess any vulnerability that an FPGA, ASIC, CPU or microcontroller may have to side-channel analysis.

DPAWS also includes an integrated suite of hardware and data visualization software to aid in the identification and understanding of vulnerabilities in cryptographic chips.

This includes:

• A project library manager that delivers an integrated view of multiple data sets, scripts and analyses.
• A powerful trace display with an intuitive interface for easy analysis.
• Integrated scripting modules for MatLab and Python.

Interested in learning more about DPA countermeasures? You can check out our product page here and our article archive on the subject here.

By 2010, smart cards had achieved a high level of robust security against attacks. Nevertheless, hackers – often employed by organized crime rings – had already placed themselves at least one step ahead by exploiting critical vulnerabilities between the card and set-top box. Current vectors of attack against the payTV sector are numerous and include set-top box/card cloning, control word sharing, modchips and free-to-air emulators.

This is precisely why it is critical for PayTV operators to deploy cardless set-top boxes secured by a hardware root-of-trust CAS. This paradigm offers operators robust security with embedded, integrated hardware that stores and protects cryptographic keys against unauthorized access. A cardless hardware root-of-trust CAS can also be effectively equipped with DPA countermeasures, making it resistant to a variety of sophisticated side-channel attacks, including simple power analysis (SPA) and differential power analysis (DPA).

In addition, eliminating the need for a smart card in set-top boxes significantly reduces cost – for both short-term BOM and long-term liability in the form of frequent card swaps. To be sure, a robust hardware root-of-trust CAS significantly extends the overall lifetime of a set-top box as it allows remote operators to securely implement in-field subscriptions and service upgrades. Of course, it is also important for any hardware-based root-of-trust solution to be compatible with multiple leading CAS and DRM systems. Simply put, this ensures that operators are not locked into a single vendor for the entire lifetime of a set-top box.

Perhaps not surprisingly, cardless CAS set-top boxes equipped with a hardware-based root-of-trust are increasing in popularity amongst major operators. A hardware root-of-trust, provided by platforms such as Rambus’ CryptoMedia, offers operators like DishTV India a cost-effective, future-proof method of securing the broadcast and streaming of next-gen, premium digital content, including 4K and UHD.

As we’ve previously discussed on Rambus Press, CryptoMedia, which fully complies with MovieLabs’ Enhanced Content Protection Specification, supports numerous ecosystem configurations, such as CAS, broadcast, OTT and DRM. CryptoMedia also integrates a variety of DPA countermeasures, making it resistant to numerous side-channel attacks, including simple power analysis and differential power analysis. Last, but certainly not least, CryptoMedia helps operators accelerate time-to-market with pre-validated IP by simplifying the certification process.

Interested in learning more about how Rambus CryptoMedia is helping payTV operators go cardless? You can check out our
ebook on the subject here and our CryptoMedia product page here.

“Today’s leading aerospace and defense companies are looking for solutions to counter the increasing threat of side-channel attacks,” said Scott. “This licensing agreement will grant Idaho Scientific’s customers access to advanced DPA countermeasures – allowing them to safeguard the data integrity of applications requiring a high level of security, particularly those serving the aerospace and defense sectors.”

As Scott points out, broader and faster adoption of DPA countermeasures in the FPGA ecosystem will ensure that components are insulated from these types of vulnerabilities.

“Idaho Scientific has the ability to rapidly deliver solutions based on our DPA countermeasures that will bring significant benefits to the industries they serve, where safety and security are a top priority,” he added.

Dale Reese, president of Idaho Scientific, expressed similar sentiments.

“By incorporating Rambus’ technology into our IP cores, we provide our customers access to premier solutions that are immune to DPA attacks,” said Dale Reese, president of Idaho Scientific. “The Rambus DPA countermeasures enhance the efficiencies of our FPGA and ASIC encryption cores, which are especially critical to our aerospace and defense customers.”

DPA countermeasures, developed by Rambus Cryptography Research, consist of a broad range of software, hardware, and protocol techniques that protect devices from side-channel attacks. DPA is a type of side-channel attack that monitors variations in the electrical power consumption or electro-magnetic emissions from a target device. These measurements can then be used to obtain cryptographic keys and other sensitive information from semiconductors.

According to Rambus Security Fellow Pankaj Rohatgi, the industry is quite concerned over the potential extraction of keys or the reverse engineering of sensitive military algorithms using both Simple Power Analysis (SPA) and DPA.

“These attacks involve measuring and analyzing the power consumed by a device while it is performing its normal operations with secret keys and algorithms. Such passive, noninvasive attacks cannot be detected or audited by the device,” he told Military Embedded Systems. “Portable electronics, communications gear and ‘leave-behind’ equipment are the most vulnerable: They are easiest for an enemy to acquire and access. After conducting the attack, the enemy could eavesdrop on military communications and forge command-and-control messages. In a military setting, the enemy [is] much stealthier and successful attacks might not get discovered until it is too late.”

Specific countermeasures, says Rohatgi, include leakage reduction, noise introduction method, obfuscation and the incorporation of randomness. It should be noted that Rambus has licensed a range of DPA countermeasures to a number of prominent corporations such as Boeing, NAGRA, The Athena Group and Winbond.

According to Martin Scott, senior vice president and general manager of the Security Division at Rambus, DPA countermeasures enable Boeing to protect against security attacks that are used to reverse engineer or exploit critical technologies built into aircraft and other defense-related products.

“The threat of DPA attacks is on the rise and companies like Boeing need the utmost security solutions to safeguard its customers’ high-value data,” said Scott. “By licensing our DPA countermeasures, Boeing [illustrates] its commitment to building products with the highest level of security.”

As Scott notes, concerns about DPA security attacks originated in the smart card market, although such attacks have since spread into other segments, including aerospace and defense. Fortunately, government and military systems can be protected from cyber adversaries with a hardware-centric security approach, which helps prevent the threat of reverse engineering and exploitation.

As we’ve previously discussed on Rambus Press, DPA is a type of side-channel attack that involves monitoring variations in the electrical power consumption or EM emissions from a target device. These measurements can then be used to derive cryptographic keys and other sensitive information from chips. This is precisely why Rambus’ Cryptography Research division has developed a comprehensive portfolio of application-specific hardware core and software library solutions that can be used to build DPA resistant products. To be sure, robust countermeasures can protect devices and applications used for government and military purposes, along with finance, mass transit and wireless communications.

It should be noted that Rambus also offers a DPA Workstation (DPAWS) platform to customers and partners. Essentially, DPAWS analyzes hardware and software cryptographic implementations for vulnerabilities to power and electromagnetic side-channel attacks. Specifically, DPAWS enables users to quickly assess any vulnerability that an FPGA, ASIC, CPU or microcontroller may have to side-channel analysis.

In addition, DPAWS includes an integrated suite of hardware and data visualization software to aid in the identification and understanding of vulnerabilities in cryptographic chips.

This includes:

• A project library manager that delivers an integrated view of multiple data sets, scripts and analyses.
• A powerful trace display with an intuitive interface for easy analysis.
• Integrated scripting modules for MatLab and Python.

Additional information about Rambus’ DPA Countermeasure solutions and DPA Workstation analysis platform can be found here.

“NAGRA has shown that security is a top priority and protection against side- channel attacks is an important component of their solutions,” said Dr. Martin Scott, general manager of Rambus’ Security Division.

“We are pleased to extend our DPA countermeasures agreement with NAGRA, providing security of their broadcast, broadband and mobile platforms that deliver premium entertainment to their customers.”

As we’ve previously discussed on Rambus Press, DPA is a form of side-channel attack that monitors variations in the electrical power consumption or electro-magnetic emissions from a target device. These measurements can then be used to obtain cryptographic keys and other sensitive information from semiconductors within the devices. Rambus DPA countermeasures comprise a broad range of software, hardware, and protocol techniques to protect these devices from side-channel attacks.

It should be noted that Rambus also offers a DPA Workstation (DPAWS) platform to customers and partners. Essentially, DPAWS analyzes hardware and software cryptographic implementations for vulnerabilities to power and electromagnetic side-channel attacks. Specifically, DPAWS enables users to quickly assess any vulnerability that an FPGA, ASIC, CPU or microcontroller may have to side-channel analysis.

In addition, DPAWS includes an integrated suite of hardware and data visualization software to aid in the identification and understanding of vulnerabilities in cryptographic chips.

This includes:

• A project library manager that delivers an integrated view of multiple data sets, scripts and analyses.
• A powerful trace display with an intuitive interface for easy analysis.
• Integrated scripting modules for MatLab and Python.

Additional information about Rambus’ DPA Workstation analysis platform and other DPA Countermeasure solutions can be found here.

Image Credit: Frank Vincentz (Via Wikipedia)

Unfortunately, there is no Faraday cage large enough to shield the burgeoning Internet of Things and related infrastructure from certain hacks such as simple power analysis (SPA) and differential power analysis (DPA). To be sure, all physical electronic systems routinely leak information about their internal process of computing. In practical terms, this means attackers can exploit various side-channel techniques to gather data and extract secret cryptographic keys from IoT endpoints.

“Regardless of specific instruction set architecture (ISA), most industry security solutions on the market today can be soundly defeated by side-channel attacks,” said Simon Blake-Wilson, a VP at Rambus’ Cryptography Research Division. “In fact, even a simple radio is capable of gathering side-channel information by eavesdropping on frequencies emitted by electronic devices. In some cases, secret keys can be recovered from a single transaction clandestinely performed by a device several feet away.”

The burgeoning IoT already comprises millions, if not billions, of connected endpoints powered by chips that are vulnerable to side-channel attacks. Such unprotected silicon (e.g., CPUs, MCUs, MPUs) can be found in a wide range of electronic devices including wearables, medical equipment, vehicles, smart appliances and rapidly evolving smart city infrastructure.

Perhaps not surprisingly, vulnerable Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) are also gaining traction among IoT device manufacturers. Pankaj Rohatgi, a Security Technology Fellow at Rambus’ Cryptography Research Division, says the advantages of FPGAs include reduced time-to-market, field-configurability and lower up-front costs.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5Oi9xNR60s]

“FPGAs are increasingly being relied upon to protect highly-sensitive intellectual property, trade-secrets, algorithms and cryptographic keys. They are also a natural fit for certain elements of the IoT,” he explained. “Sensitive FPGA applications – such as power grids, medical devices and semi-autonomous vehicle infrastructure – all require strong tamper resistance to protect both the secrets contained within these devices as well as the data they process.”

As Rohatgi confirms, power analysis attacks are among the most important to protect against, since they are non-invasive, widely understood by adversaries and easy to execute via inexpensive off-the-shelf equipment.

“Fortunately, specific DPA countermeasure strategies can be employed to protect FPGA-based IoT devices and related infrastructure,” he said. “These include techniques to minimize information leakage, generating noise to drown out leakage signals, the use of randomness to mask computational intermediates, algorithm and implementation obfuscation as well as the use of protocols designed to preserve secrecy even in the presence of (some) leakage.”

However, as Blake-Wilson emphasizes, side-channel attacks are only one specific attack vector threatening the IoT.

“The current security paradigm associated with the mobile and PC world is undeniably flawed. I find it difficult to believe that any serious industry player is honestly satisfied with the status quo, in which serious or even critical vulnerabilities disclosed on an almost daily basis are patched with hurriedly coded software and firmware updates,” he concluded. “A ‘good enough’ approach may have been tolerated for smartphones and tablets, but the industry cannot afford to relegate security to a tertiary concern for an IoT that may very well ultimately affect every aspect of our daily lives. A new paradigm, designed from the ground up to provide secure foundations for connected devices, is clearly long overdue. Devices need to be secured throughout their lifecycle from chip manufacture, to day-to-day deployment, to decommissioning. Alongside side channel attacks, secure provisioning and configuration are crucial issues that we are addressing with CryptoManager.”

The agreement allows Athena customers to obtain, directly from Athena, advanced countermeasure solutions that rely on Rambus Cryptography Research patents to protect against side-channel attacks. By utilizing advanced countermeasures implementations, Athena customers can ensure the data integrity of products that run applications requiring a high level of security, particularly those serving the aerospace and defense sectors.

“Securing cores against DPA attacks is a top priority for us and for our customers,” said Monica Murphy, president and CEO of Athena. “This expanded agreement with Rambus enables us to accelerate the adoption of advanced countermeasure solutions designed to counteract that risk. By providing our customers with a license to use Rambus Cryptography Research inventions in connection with our extensive portfolio of cryptographic cores, we can streamline the use model and make it significantly easier for customers to adopt this critical technology.”

According to Paul Kocher, chief scientist of the Rambus Cryptography Research division, today’s leading manufacturers are looking for solutions to counter the increasing threat of side-channel attacks.

“Broader and faster adoption of DPA Countermeasures in the FPGA ecosystem will ensure that components are insulated from these types of vulnerabilities,” he added. “Athena’s increased ability to rapidly engage and deliver solutions based on our portfolio of DPA countermeasures patents will bring significant benefits to the industries they serve, where safety and security are paramount.”

As we’ve previously discussed on Rambus Press, DPA, or differential power analysis, is a type of side-channel attack that monitors variations in the electrical power consumption or EM emissions from a target device. These measurements can be used to obtain cryptographic keys and other sensitive information from semiconductors.

As such, the Rambus Cryptography Research division has designed a range of DPA countermeasures that offer a combination of software, hardware and protocol techniques specifically designed to protect tamper-resistant devices from side-channel attacks. These include leak reduction, incorporating randomness, generating amplitude and temporal noise, as well as executing protocol-level countermeasures.