Continuing with the main theme my last two posts, hacking, I am going to wrap up with this post about Secure Processors.
A secure processor is meant to protect the information and the communications, validate the communications channel and be tamper-resistant, should it falls into the adversary’s hands.
Successful hacking of secrets has the duality of being a happy/sad event, depending on which team are you playing for. The design of secure processors makes this duality patent as, in practice, the most important evaluation criterion is that the resulting product should resist the designer’s best attempts at hacking it.
The current research and development efforts are guided by U.S. DoD Anti-Tamper specifications. To prevent reverse engineering, architectures of secure processors are based on a combination of hardware and encrypted software in such a way that if the hardware is captured, its exact functions cannot be guessed without knowing the encryption keys. During WWII, the capture of an ENIGMA machine paved the way for the breaking of the enciphering by the allied forces. These historical lessons are incorporated into today’s design criteria. Some design even incorporate sensors that will detect attempts at using physical means to force the hardware and destroy the critical information upon detection (often called zeroization).
A new dimension to the problem is added by procurement system. Electronic chips are nowadays a commodity and absolute control over the manufacturing of chips is not possible. Therefore it is essential to ensure that the critical parts, that is the processors, are designed and made in controlled facilities.
The lessons learned in military applications are now being applied to commercial system. This is where the lines blurred because in the interconnected world the enemy can wreak havoc on the infrastructure without firing a shot. Communication and control networks associated with utilities will become more resistant to attacks by using computers fitted with secure processors.
Related:
New Chip Brings Military Security to Commercial Processors
Filed under: Anti-tamper, Cryptography, Encryption, Hacking, Security, Software, Technology , Anti-tamper, secure processors, Security, Technology
