Chaos is an interesting phenomenon for nonlinear systems that emerges due to its complex and unpredictable behavior. With the escalated use of low-powered edge-compute devices, data security at the edge develops the need for security in communication. The characteristic that Chaos synchronizes over time for two different chaotic systems with their own unique initial conditions, is the base for chaos implementation in communication. This paper proposes an encryption architecture suitable for communication of on-chip sensors to provide a POC (proof of concept) with security encrypted on the same chip using different chaotic equations. In communication, encryption is achieved with the help of microcontrollers or software implementations that use more power and have complex hardware implementation. The small IoT devices are expected to be operated on low power and constrained with size. At the same time, these devices are highly vulnerable to security threats, which elevates the need to have low power/size hardware-based security. Since the discovery of chaotic equations, they have been used in various encryption applications. The goal of this research is to take the chaotic implementation to the CMOS level with the sensors on the same chip. The hardware co-simulation is demonstrated on an FPGA board for Chua encryption/decryption architecture. The hardware utilization for Lorenz, SprottD, and Chua on FPGA is achieved with Xilinx System Generation (XSG) toolbox which reveals that Lorenz’s utilization is ~9% lesser than Chua’s.
more »
« less
Attacks on Continuous Chaos Communication and Remedies for Resource Limited Devices
The Global Wearable market is anticipated to rise at a considerable rate in the next coming years and communication is a fundamental block in any wearable device. In communication, encryption methods are being used with the aid of microcontrollers or software implementations, which are power-consuming and incorporate complex hardware implementation. Internet of Things (IoT) devices are considered as resource-constrained devices that are expected to operate with low computational power and resource utilization criteria. At the same time, recent research has shown that IoT devices are highly vulnerable to emerging security threats, which elevates the need for low-power and small-size hardware-based security countermeasures. Chaotic encryption is a method of data encryption that utilizes chaotic systems and non-linear dynamics to generate secure encryption keys. It aims to provide high-level security by creating encryption keys that are sensitive to initial conditions and difficult to predict, making it challenging for unauthorized parties to intercept and decode encrypted data. Since the discovery of chaotic equations, there have been various encryption applications associated with them. In this paper, we comprehensively analyze the physical and encryption attacks on continuous chaotic systems in resource-constrained devices and their potential remedies. To this aim, we introduce different categories of attacks of chaotic encryption. Our experiments focus on chaotic equations implemented using Chua’s equation and leverages circuit architectures and provide simulations proof of remedies for different attacks. These remedies are provided to block the attackers from stealing users’ information (e.g., a pulse message) with negligible cost to the power and area of the design.
more »
« less
- Award ID(s):
- 2131156
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10437449
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- 2023 24th International Symposium on Quality Electronic Design (ISQED)
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 1 to 8
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
-
null (Ed.)In this paper, we explore the use of microcontrollers (MCUs) and crypto coprocessors to secure IoT applications, and show how developers may implement a low-cost platform that provides protects private keys against software attacks. We first demonstrate the plausibility of format string attacks on the ESP32, a popular MCU from Espressif that uses the Harvard architecture. The format string attacks can be used to remotely steal private keys hard-coded in the firmware. We then present a framework termed SIC 2 (Securing IoT with Crypto Coprocessors), for secure key provisioning that protects end users' private keys from both software attacks and untrustworthy manufacturers. As a proof of concept, we pair the ESP32 with the low-cost ATECC608A cryptographic coprocessor by Microchip and connect to Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Amazon Elastic Container Service (EC2) using a hardware-protected private key, which provides the security features of TLS communication including authentication, encryption and integrity. We have developed a prototype and performed extensive experiments to show that the ATECC608A crypto chip may significantly reduce the TLS handshake time by as much as 82% with the remote server, and it may lower the total energy consumption of the system by up to 70%. Our results indicate that securing IoT with crypto coprocessors is a practicable solution for low-cost MCU based IoT devices.more » « less
-
null (Ed.)The resource-constrained nature of the Internet of Things (IoT) edges, poses a challenge in designing a secure and high-performance communication for this family of devices. Although side-channel resistant ciphers (either block or stream) could guarantee the security of the communication, the energy intensive nature of these ciphers makes them undesirable for lightweight IoT solutions. In this paper, we introduce ExTru, an encrypted communication protocol based on stream ciphers that adds a configurable switching & toggling network (CSTN) to not only boost the performance of the communication in these devices, it also consumes far less energy than the conventional side-channel resistant ciphers. Although the overall structure of the proposed scheme is leaky against physical attacks, we introduce a dynamic encryption mechanism that removes this vulnerability. We demonstrate how each communicated message in the proposed scheme reduces the level of trust. Accordingly, since a specific number of messages, N, could break the communication and extract the key, by using the dynamic encryption mechanism, ExTru can re-initiate the level of trust periodically after T messages where T <; N, to protect the communication against side-channel and scan-based attacks (e.g. SAT attack). Furthermore, we demonstrate that by properly configuring the value of T, ExTru not only increases the strength of security from per “device” to per “message”, it also significantly improves energy saving as well as throughput vs. an architecture that only uses a conventional side-channel resistant block/stream cipher.more » « less
-
null (Ed.)Lightweight cryptography offers viable security solutions for resource constrained Internet of Things (IoT) devices. However, IoT devices have implementation vulnerabilities such as side channel attacks (SCA), where observation of physical phenomena associated with device operations can reveal sensitive internal contents. The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology has called for lightweight cryptographic solutions to process authenticated encryption with associated data (AEAD), and is evaluating candidates for suitability in a Lightweight Cryptography (LWC) Standardization Process. Two Round 2 candidate variants, COMET-CHAM and SCHWAEMM, use Addition-Rotation-XOR (ARX) primitives. However, ARX ciphers are known to be costly to protect against certain SCA. In this work we implement side channel protected versions of COMET-CHAM and SCHWAEMM using register transfer level design. Identical protection schemes consisting of a threshold implementation (TI)-protected Kogge-Stone adder are adopted. Resistance to power side channel analysis is verified on an Artix-7 FPGA target device. Implementations comply with the Hardware API for Lightweight Cryptography, and use a custom-designed extension of the Development Package for the Hardware API for Lightweight Cryptography which enables test and evaluation of side channel resistant designs. We compare side channel protection costs of the two candidates against each other, against their unprotected counterparts, and against previous side channel protected AEAD implementations. COMET-CHAM is shown to consume less area and power, while SCHWAEMM has higher throughput and throughput to area ratio, and is more energy efficient. On average, the costs of protecting these ciphers against SCA are 32% more in area and 38% more in power, compared to the average protection costs for a large selection of previously-evaluated ciphers of similar implementation. Our results highlight the costs involved in implementing side channel protected ARX-ciphers, and help to inform NIST LWC late round and final portfolio selections.more » « less
-
The Internet of Things (IoT) is a network of sensors that helps collect data 24/7 without human intervention. However, the network may suffer from problems such as the low battery, heterogeneity, and connectivity issues due to the lack of standards. Even though these problems can cause several performance hiccups, security issues need immediate attention because hackers access vital personal and financial information and then misuse it. These security issues can allow hackers to hijack IoT devices and then use them to establish a Botnet to launch a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack. Blockchain technology can provide security to IoT devices by providing secure authentication using public keys. Similarly, Smart Contracts (SCs) can improve the performance of the IoT–blockchain network through automation. However, surveyed work shows that the blockchain and SCs do not provide foolproof security; sometimes, attackers defeat these security mechanisms and initiate DDoS attacks. Thus, developers and security software engineers must be aware of different techniques to detect DDoS attacks. In this survey paper, we highlight different techniques to detect DDoS attacks. The novelty of our work is to classify the DDoS detection techniques according to blockchain technology. As a result, researchers can enhance their systems by using blockchain-based support for detecting threats. In addition, we provide general information about the studied systems and their workings. However, we cannot neglect the recent surveys. To that end, we compare the state-of-the-art DDoS surveys based on their data collection techniques and the discussed DDoS attacks on the IoT subsystems. The study of different IoT subsystems tells us that DDoS attacks also impact other computing systems, such as SCs, networking devices, and power grids. Hence, our work briefly describes DDoS attacks and their impacts on the above subsystems and IoT. For instance, due to DDoS attacks, the targeted computing systems suffer delays which cause tremendous financial and utility losses to the subscribers. Hence, we discuss the impacts of DDoS attacks in the context of associated systems. Finally, we discuss Machine-Learning algorithms, performance metrics, and the underlying technology of IoT systems so that the readers can grasp the detection techniques and the attack vectors. Moreover, associated systems such as Software-Defined Networking (SDN) and Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) are a source of good security enhancement for IoT Networks. Thus, we include a detailed discussion of future development encompassing all major IoT subsystems.more » « less
- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
-
Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Conference Paper:
- https://doi.org/10.1109/isqed57927.2023.10129355
