Hardware security as a discipline originated out of cryptographic engineering and involves
hardware design
Processor design is a subfield of computer engineering and electronics engineering (fabrication) that deals with creating a processor, a key component of computer hardware.
The design process involves choosing an instruction set and a certain exec ...
,
access control
In the fields of physical security and information security, access control (AC) is the selective restriction of access to a place or other resource, while access management describes the process. The act of ''accessing'' may mean consuming ...
,
secure multi-party computation
Secure multi-party computation (also known as secure computation, multi-party computation (MPC) or privacy-preserving computation) is a subfield of cryptography with the goal of creating methods for parties to jointly compute a function over their ...
, secure key storage, ensuring code authenticity, measures to ensure that the supply chain that built the product is secure among other things.
A
hardware security module
A hardware security module (HSM) is a physical computing device that safeguards and manages secrets (most importantly digital keys), performs encryption and decryption functions for digital signatures, strong authentication and other cryptograp ...
(HSM) is a physical computing device that safeguards and manages
digital keys for
strong authentication
Strong authentication is a notion with several definitions.
Strong (customer) authentication definitions
Strong authentication is often confused with two-factor authentication (more generally known as multi-factor authentication), but strong a ...
and provides
cryptoprocessing. These modules traditionally come in the form of a plug-in card or an external device that attaches directly to a
computer
A computer is a machine that can be programmed to Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as C ...
or
network server
In computing, a server is a piece of computer hardware or software (computer program) that provides functionality for other programs or devices, called " clients". This architecture is called the client–server model. Servers can provide variou ...
.
Some providers in this discipline consider that the key difference between hardware security and
software security
Application security (short AppSec) includes all tasks that introduce a secure software development life cycle to development teams. Its final goal is to improve security practices and, through that, to find, fix and preferably prevent security i ...
is that hardware security is implemented using "non-
Turing-machine" logic (raw
combinatorial logic or
simple state machines). One approach, referred to as "hardsec", uses
FPGAs
A field-programmable gate array (FPGA) is an integrated circuit designed to be configured by a customer or a designer after manufacturinghence the term '' field-programmable''. The FPGA configuration is generally specified using a hardware de ...
to implement non-Turing-machine security controls as a way of combining the security of hardware with the flexibility of software.
Hardware backdoor
Hardware backdoors are backdoors in hardware, such as code inside hardware or firmware of computer chips. The backdoors may be directly implemented as hardware Trojans in the integrated circuit.
Hardware backdoors are intended to undermine ...
s are
backdoors in
hardware. Conceptionally related, a
hardware Trojan (HT) is a malicious modification of
electronic system
Electronic may refer to:
*Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor
* ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal
*Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device
*Electronic co ...
, particularly in the context of
integrated circuit
An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit (also referred to as an IC, a chip, or a microchip) is a set of electronic circuits on one small flat piece (or "chip") of semiconductor material, usually silicon. Large numbers of tiny ...
.
A
physical unclonable function
A physical unclonable function (sometimes also called physically unclonable function, which refers to a weaker security metric than a physical unclonable function), or PUF, is a physical object that for a given input and conditions (challenge), pr ...
(PUF) is a physical entity that is embodied in a physical structure and is easy to evaluate but hard to predict. Further, an individual PUF device must be easy to make but practically impossible to duplicate, even given the exact manufacturing process that produced it. In this respect it is the hardware analog of a
one-way function
In computer science, a one-way function is a function that is easy to compute on every input, but hard to invert given the image of a random input. Here, "easy" and "hard" are to be understood in the sense of computational complexity theory, s ...
. The name "physical unclonable function" might be a little misleading as some PUFs are clonable, and most PUFs are noisy and therefore do not achieve the requirements for a
function
Function or functionality may refer to:
Computing
* Function key, a type of key on computer keyboards
* Function model, a structured representation of processes in a system
* Function object or functor or functionoid, a concept of object-oriente ...
. Today, PUFs are usually implemented in
integrated circuits
An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit (also referred to as an IC, a chip, or a microchip) is a set of electronic circuits on one small flat piece (or "chip") of semiconductor material, usually silicon. Large numbers of tiny ...
and are typically used in applications with high security requirements.
Many attacks on sensitive data and resources reported by organizations occur from within the organization itself.
See also
*
Computer compatibility
A family of computer models is said to be compatible if certain software that runs on one of the models can also be run on all other models of the family. The computer models may differ in performance, reliability or some other characteristic. T ...
**
Proprietary software
Proprietary software is software that is deemed within the free and open-source software to be non-free because its creator, publisher, or other rightsholder or rightsholder partner exercises a legal monopoly afforded by modern copyright and int ...
**
Free and open-source software
Free and open-source software (FOSS) is a term used to refer to groups of software consisting of both free software and open-source software where anyone is freely licensed to use, copy, study, and change the software in any way, and the source ...
***
Comparison of open-source operating systems
These tables compare free software / open-source operating systems. Where not all of the versions support a feature, the first version which supports it is listed.
General information
Supported architectures
Supported hardware
Gen ...
***
*
Trusted Computing
Trusted Computing (TC) is a technology developed and promoted by the Trusted Computing Group. The term is taken from the field of trusted systems and has a specialized meaning that is distinct from the field of Confidential Computing. The core ide ...
*
Computational trust In information security, computational trust is the generation of trusted authorities or user trust through cryptography. In centralised systems, security is typically based on the authenticated identity of external parties. Rigid authentication mec ...
*
Fingerprint (computing)
In computer science, a fingerprinting algorithm is a procedure that maps an arbitrarily large data item (such as a computer file) to a much shorter bit string, its fingerprint, that uniquely identifies the original data for all practical purpos ...
*
Side-channel attack
In computer security, a side-channel attack is any attack based on extra information that can be gathered because of the fundamental way a computer protocol or algorithm is implemented, rather than flaws in the design of the protocol or algorit ...
**
Power analysis
Power analysis is a form of side channel attack in which the attacker studies the power consumption of a cryptographic hardware device. These attacks rely on basic physical properties of the device: semiconductor devices are governed by the ...
**
Electromagnetic attack In cryptography, electromagnetic attacks are side-channel attacks performed by measuring the electromagnetic radiation emitted from a device and performing signal analysis on it. These attacks are a more specific type of what is sometimes referred ...
**
Acoustic cryptanalysis Acoustic cryptanalysis is a type of side channel attack that exploits sounds emitted by computers or other devices.
Most of the modern acoustic cryptanalysis focuses on the sounds produced by computer keyboards and internal computer components, bu ...
**
Timing attack
In cryptography, a timing attack is a side-channel attack in which the attacker attempts to compromise a cryptosystem by analyzing the time taken to execute cryptographic algorithms. Every logical operation in a computer takes time to execute, and ...
*
Supply chain security
*
List of computer hardware manufacturers
Current notable computer hardware manufacturers: Cases
List of computer case manufacturers:
* Aigo
* Antec
* AOpen
* ASRock
* Asus
* be quiet!
* CaseLabs (defunct)
* Chassis Plans
* Cooler Master
* Corsair
* Dell
* Deepcool
* DFI
* ECS
...
*
Consumer protection
Consumer protection is the practice of safeguarding buyers of goods and services, and the public, against unfair practices in the marketplace. Consumer protection measures are often established by law. Such laws are intended to prevent business ...
*
Security switch
A security switch is a hardware device designed to protect computers, laptops, smartphones and similar devices from unauthorized access or operation, distinct from a virtual security switch which offers software protection. Security switches should ...
*
Vulnerability (computing)
Vulnerabilities are flaws in a computer system that weaken the overall security of the device/system. Vulnerabilities can be weaknesses in either the hardware itself, or the software that runs on the hardware. Vulnerabilities can be exploited by ...
*
Defense strategy (computing)
*
Turing completeness
In computability theory, a system of data-manipulation rules (such as a computer's instruction set, a programming language, or a cellular automaton) is said to be Turing-complete or computationally universal if it can be used to simulate any Tur ...
*
Universal Turing machine
In computer science, a universal Turing machine (UTM) is a Turing machine that can simulate an arbitrary Turing machine on arbitrary input. The universal machine essentially achieves this by reading both the description of the machine to be simu ...
*
Finite-state machine
A finite-state machine (FSM) or finite-state automaton (FSA, plural: ''automata''), finite automaton, or simply a state machine, is a mathematical model of computation. It is an abstract machine that can be in exactly one of a finite number o ...
*
Automata theory
Automata theory is the study of abstract machines and automata, as well as the computational problems that can be solved using them. It is a theory in theoretical computer science. The word ''automata'' comes from the Greek word αὐτόματο ...
References
{{Reflist
External links
*Hardsec: practical non-Turing-machine security for threat eliminatio
"Hardsec" concept outline
Computer hardware
Computer security
Cyberwarfare
Product design