[5486] in cryptography@c2.net mail archive
Re: Power analysis of AES candidates
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Russell Nelson)
Tue Aug 31 14:48:15 1999
From: Russell Nelson <nelson@crynwr.com>
Date: Tue, 31 Aug 1999 13:13:37 -0400 (EDT)
To: "Cryptography@C2. Net" <cryptography@c2.net>
In-Reply-To: <4.1.19990830141023.009b7330@popd.ix.netcom.com>
John Kelsey writes:
> There's some question about how hard it will be to design
> hardware that will be DPA-resistant for different
> algorithms.
Big on-chip caps. Lithium batteries. Tamper-resistant housings.
That's what Dallas Semiconductor uses for its 1-Wire devices,
including the famous Java ring. It works to protect data, but not
algorithms, because once you extract the algorithm, you've got it.
With data, you have only to make extraction more expensive than the
data is worth.
You could also superglue the chip to something very hard, so that you
can't probe the chip without getting the cover off, and if you try,
you destroy the chip trying.
--
-russ nelson <nelson@crynwr.com> http://russnelson.com
Crynwr sells support for free software | PGPok | Government schools are so
521 Pleasant Valley Rd. | +1 315 268 1925 voice | bad that any rank amateur
Potsdam, NY 13676-3213 | +1 315 268 9201 FAX | can outdo them. Homeschool!
