Current mask generation: a transistor level security against DPA attacks

The physical implementation of cryptographic algorithms may leak to some attacker security information by the side channel data, as power consumption, timing, temperature or electromagnetic emanation. The Differential Power Analysis (DPA) is a powerful side channel attack, based only on the power consumption information. There are some countermeasures proposed at algorithmic or architectural level that are expensive and/or complexes. This paper addresses the DPA attack problem by a novel and efficient transistor-level method based on a power consumption control, without any modification on the cryptographic algorithms, messages or keys. Categories and Subject Descriptors B.7.1 [Types and Design Styles]: VLSI. D.4.6 [Security and Protection]: Cryptographic controls. General Terms: Design, Experimentation, Security.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2005
• Where: SBCCI
• Authors: Daniel Mesquita, Jean-Denis Techer, Lionel Torres, Gilles Sassatelli, Gaston Cambon, Michel Robert, Fernando Moraes
• Keywords: Cryptographic Algorithms, Power Consumption, Power Consumption Information, SBCCI 2005