3 ms·

I've worked with some secure enclave chips that go into tamper mode (self-erasing of keys, hard fault, etc) when the voltage deviates outside a certain range.

I've worked with some secure enclave chips that go into tamper mode (self-erasing of keys, hard fault, etc) when the voltage deviates outside a certain range. But this chip seems to have programmable voltage changes. Seems like you could prevent crypto access unless the registers were all in spec.

jdsully 7y ago
Chip power networks are very complicated RC circuits. By modulating both the workload and the voltage it should be possible to create localized brownouts only in portions of the chip. This would bypass normal voltage monitoring. This sort of thing is already a huge problem in chip design today without the adversarial component complicating it further. It does make the attack much more difficult though.