1. Self-timed Ring based True Random Number Generator: Threat model and countermeasures
- Author
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Raphael Frisch, Abdelkarim Cherkaoui, Gregoire Gimenez, Laurent Fesquet, Techniques de l'Informatique et de la Microélectronique pour l'Architecture des systèmes intégrés (TIMA), Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes [2016-2019] (UGA [2016-2019]), Techniques of Informatics and Microelectronics for integrated systems Architecture (TIMA), and Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)
- Subjects
021110 strategic, defence & security studies ,Random number generation ,Computer science ,0211 other engineering and technologies ,02 engineering and technology ,Propagation delay ,Computer engineering ,Threat model ,0202 electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering ,Electronic engineering ,Entropy (information theory) ,020201 artificial intelligence & image processing ,[SPI.NANO]Engineering Sciences [physics]/Micro and nanotechnologies/Microelectronics ,Randomness ,Computer Science::Cryptography and Security ,Minimum entropy ,Jitter - Abstract
International audience; Self-timed Ring based True Random Generators (STRNGs) extract randomness from the jitter of events evenly propagating in a Self-Timed Ring (STR) oscillator. Security of such generators is primarily based on an entropy assessment: an accurate model of the minimum entropy per output bit with physical measurement of the noise source. This assessment is reinforced with both entropy source monitoring and online testing of the output bits. This paper addresses the security of the STRNG. First we identify potential vulnerabilities on the generator and define a threat model. Based on this threat model, we analyze the effect of active attacks in analog simulations (in a 55 nm technology), and by emulating them in a high-level simulation model. Then, we propose simple and efficient countermeasures to thwart attacks focusing on the generator. Finally, we evaluate the output sequences before and after attacks to validate the proposed countermeasures.
- Published
- 2017
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