CryptoDB
Björn Scheuermann
Publications
Year
Venue
Title
2022
TCHES
Can’t Touch This: Inertial HSMs Thwart Advanced Physical Attacks
Abstract
In this paper, we introduce a novel countermeasure against physical attacks:
Inertial Hardware Security Modules (IHSMs). Conventional systems have in common
that their security requires the crafting of fine sensor structures that respond to minute
manipulations of the monitored security boundary or volume. Our approach is novel
in that we reduce the sensitivity requirement of security meshes and other sensors
and increase the complexity of any manipulations by rotating the security mesh or
sensor at high speed—thereby presenting a moving target to an attacker. Attempts
to stop the rotation are easily monitored with commercial MEMS accelerometers and
gyroscopes. Our approach leads to a HSM that can easily be built from off-the-shelf
parts by any university electronics lab, yet offers a level of security that is comparable
to commercial HSMs. We have built a proof of concept hardware prototype that
demonstrates solutions to the concept’s main engineering challenges. As part of this
proof of concept, we have found that a system using a coarse security mesh made
from commercial printed circuit boards and an automotive high g-force accelerometer
already provides a useful level of security.
2021
TCHES
Can’t Touch This: Inertial HSMs Thwart Advanced Physical Attacks
Abstract
In this paper, we introduce a novel countermeasure against physical attacks: Inertial Hardware Security Modules (IHSMs). Conventional systems have in common that their security requires the crafting of fine sensor structures that respond to minute manipulations of the monitored security boundary or volume. Our approach is novel in that we reduce the sensitivity requirement of security meshes and other sensors and increase the complexity of any manipulations by rotating the security mesh or sensor at high speed—thereby presenting a moving target to an attacker. Attempts to stop the rotation are easily monitored with commercial MEMS accelerometers and gyroscopes. Our approach leads to an HSM that can easily be built from off-the-shelf parts by any university electronics lab, yet offers a level of security that is comparable to commercial HSMs. We have built a proof-of-concept hardware prototype that demonstrates solutions to the concept’s main engineering challenges. As part of this proof-of-concept, we have found that a system using a coarse security mesh made from commercial printed circuit boards and an automotive high-g-force accelerometer already provides a useful level of security.
Coauthors
- Jan Goette (1)
- Jan Sebastian Götte (1)