New scan-based attack using only the test mode

Sk Subidh Ali, Ozgur Sinanoglu, Samah Mohamed Saeed, Ramesh Karri

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

Scan attack is a threat to crypto-chips. An attacker can leverage the test mode of the chip and control the scan chains in order to reveal the secret key. One solution for this kind of attacks is to hamper the ability to switch the device from normal mode to test mode and corrupt the data in the scan cells. If the device is reset each time it switches the mode from normal to test, all existing attacks can be thwarted. We propose a new scan-based attack by controlling only the scan chains and demonstrate it on the AES hardware. The attack uses only the test mode of the hardware and it does not require switching between normal and test mode. The attack will work even in the presence of mode blocking countermeasure. The attack requires only 375 test vectors with an attack time complexity around 212.58.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publication2013 IFIP/IEEE 21st International Conference on Very Large Scale Integration, VLSI-SoC 2013 - Proceedings
PublisherIEEE Computer Society
Pages234-239
Number of pages6
ISBN (Print)9781479905249
DOIs
StatePublished - 2013
Event2013 IFIP/IEEE 21st International Conference on Very Large Scale Integration, VLSI-SoC 2013 - Istanbul, Turkey
Duration: Oct 7 2013Oct 9 2013

Publication series

NameIEEE/IFIP International Conference on VLSI and System-on-Chip, VLSI-SoC
ISSN (Print)2324-8432
ISSN (Electronic)2324-8440

Other

Other2013 IFIP/IEEE 21st International Conference on Very Large Scale Integration, VLSI-SoC 2013
Country/TerritoryTurkey
CityIstanbul
Period10/7/1310/9/13

Keywords

  • AES
  • Scan Attack
  • Scan Chain
  • Scan-based DFT
  • Security
  • Testability

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Hardware and Architecture
  • Software
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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