Technology Overview

We offer microchip hardware security technologies to mitigate side-channel-attack, a means by exploiting the power dissipation and/or electromagnetic profiles emitted from microchips to reveal the secret key of an encryption hardware. Our technologies include (1) side-channel-attack analysis software suite, (2) our Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) IP core resistant to side-channel-attack, and (3) Field-programmable-gate-array (FPGA) evaluation boards for AES IPs. The side-channel-attack analysis software suite is a comprehensive Graphic-User-Interface platform, comprising a wide-range of attacking models, including machine-learning approaches, for evaluating various security leakages on AES IPs and designs. Our AES IP is a customized IP core, highly resistant to side-channel-attacks, including power attack and electromagnetic attack. Our AES IP core is applicable both in FPGA and application-specific-integrated-circuit (ASIC) platforms. The FPGA evaluation boards are exclusively designed for users to prototyping/evaluating customized AES IPs/designs against side-channel-attack.

Technology Features, Specifications and Advantages

Our technologies address hardware security issues on side-channel-attack. They are categorized as

1. Side-channel-attack analysis software suite
   • GUI
   • Attacking models including Differential Power Analysis, Correlation Power Analysis, Machine Learning, Digital Signal Processing
   • Proprietary codes for high processing
2. Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) IP Core
   • Proprietary technology using asynchronous-logic for countermeasures
   • SCA resistant > 10 million traces
   • Low power low area overheads
3. FPGA evaluation boards for AES
   • Customized interface to support in-house Side-Channel-Attack evaluation
   • Applicable to a wide range of FPGA boards – Xilinx and Altera

Potential Applications

Our SCA-resistance technology mitigates the increasingly security risks in hardware security. Many potential applications include smart-cards, cash-cards, banking payment systems, medical devices, security devices, smart-home appliances, smart-phones, fitness trackers, satellite navigation systems, defence applications, and many other internet-of-things (IoT) applications. With many IoT applications mushrooming into the marketplace, and these IoT applications could be physically approachable or detectable by the adversary, hence SCA countermeasure can no longer overlooked or ignored.

Customer Benefit

The customer benefits include

• Reduce risks and/or manage risks for encryption hardware against Side-Channel-Attack
• Save time for Side-Channel-Attack evaluations on encryption hardware
• Reduce costs (e.g. design cost, power cost, area cost) for AES IP designs and for Side-Channel-Attack evaluation
• Improve design/evaluation productivity
• Improve security assurance