Secure Implementations of Lightweight Cryptographic Algorithms

Description of research

We increasingly rely on embedded systems in our everyday lives; examples are smart cards, RFID tags, and sensor nodes that are used for public transport, health care monitoring equipment, pay TV systems, smart electricity meters, anticounterfeiting, electronic road pricing, etc. Ensuring the security and privacy requirements of these systems is a growing problem, and security by obscurity still prevails in this context, as witnessed by the breaking of the cryptosystems used in GSM mobile phones, KeeLoq car keys, and RIFD cards such as Mifare Classic, the Dutch “OV-chipkaart” and the London Underground Oyster card.

One central challenge in embedded security is that because of resource constraints (e.g. in computation power, circuit size, and cost) standard cryptographic algorithms cannot be used. Another challenge is that because attackers can get physical access to the devices, (hardware) implementations of these algorithms need to resist side-channel attacks, the most potent class of attacks on cryptographic algorithms.

Moreover, any countermeasures to side-channel attacks must be lightweight, given the resource constraints.

The goal of this PhD study will be to develop a deeper understanding of side-channel analysis and countermeasures. In particular, of special interest are lightweight countermeasures that can be applied to symmetric primitives hindering all known side-channel attacks. We will use the results from the side-channel analysis to design symmetric cryptographic primitives that allow flexible parametrization to meet the constraints of the device.

Advisor(s)

Svetla Nikova (Supervisor)

Prof.dr. P.H. (Pieter) Hartel (Promotor)

Duration

2011 - 2015

Project

ALwEN till end of November 2011, after November 2011 SCADA Lightweight Cryptography

Funding institution

SenterNovem (ALwEN) / CTIT (SCADA lightweight Cryptography)

Strategic Research Orientation

ISTRICE - Integrated Security and Privacy in a Networked World

Links to relevant web pages

http://dies.ewi.utwente.nl/

http://eprints.eemcs.utwente.nl/view/project/ALwEN.html

http://www.ctit.utwente.nl/research/sro/istrice/

Pictures

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Home CTIT symposium 2013 About CTIT News NIRICT Research Meet the PhDs Working at CTIT Internal Information Conferences Open Calls (updated May 3, 2013) Library and Videos Knowledge Transfer Links Sitemap Search	Secure Implementations of Lightweight Cryptographic Algorithms Description of research We increasingly rely on embedded systems in our everyday lives; examples are smart cards, RFID tags, and sensor nodes that are used for public transport, health care monitoring equipment, pay TV systems, smart electricity meters, anticounterfeiting, electronic road pricing, etc. Ensuring the security and privacy requirements of these systems is a growing problem, and security by obscurity still prevails in this context, as witnessed by the breaking of the cryptosystems used in GSM mobile phones, KeeLoq car keys, and RIFD cards such as Mifare Classic, the Dutch “OV-chipkaart” and the London Underground Oyster card. One central challenge in embedded security is that because of resource constraints (e.g. in computation power, circuit size, and cost) standard cryptographic algorithms cannot be used. Another challenge is that because attackers can get physical access to the devices, (hardware) implementations of these algorithms need to resist side-channel attacks, the most potent class of attacks on cryptographic algorithms. Moreover, any countermeasures to side-channel attacks must be lightweight, given the resource constraints. The goal of this PhD study will be to develop a deeper understanding of side-channel analysis and countermeasures. In particular, of special interest are lightweight countermeasures that can be applied to symmetric primitives hindering all known side-channel attacks. We will use the results from the side-channel analysis to design symmetric cryptographic primitives that allow flexible parametrization to meet the constraints of the device. Advisor(s) Svetla Nikova (Supervisor) Prof.dr. P.H. (Pieter) Hartel (Promotor) Duration 2011 - 2015 Project ALwEN till end of November 2011, after November 2011 SCADA Lightweight Cryptography Funding institution SenterNovem (ALwEN) / CTIT (SCADA lightweight Cryptography) Strategic Research Orientation ISTRICE - Integrated Security and Privacy in a Networked World Links to relevant web pages http://dies.ewi.utwente.nl/ http://eprints.eemcs.utwente.nl/view/project/ALwEN.html http://www.ctit.utwente.nl/research/sro/istrice/ Pictures