3 ms·
Tangentially, we as the consumers often lament that some keys in the devices we own remain hidden from us. In such cases we posses the devices and we are the "a
by acqq 9y ago
Tangentially, we as the consumers often lament that some keys in the devices we own remain hidden from us. In such cases we posses the devices and we are the "adversaries" from the point of view of the companies that produced them.
The article shows that maybe it's still somewhat easier to get them than we'd often assume?
- tptacek 9y agoSure, but the whole security model behind smartcards is premised on this problem, so it's not surprising. Fault attacks aren't new, and the kinds of side channels that smart cards and similar devices need to protect against are also a lot more interesting than just timing. There's a whole subfield of cryptography that focuses on this very narrow problem space. I'm just saying: it's probably not all that easy to pull a key off a smartcard. Remember that in most cases, the security model baked into the device is also that it need only be secure enough to resist economical attacks --- meaning, if the value of the secret you obtain from a smart card is less than the value of the equipment and expertise you'd need to carry out the attack, the smart card has probably "won" even if it can be compromised.