Blog: Attack Makes Chips More Reliable

Attack Makes Chips More Reliable
BBC News (04/26/10) Ward, Mark

University of Michigan (UM) researchers have discovered that by varying the voltage to certain parts of a computer's processor, the ability to keep key data secret is compromised. The researchers also found that a method that helps chips defend against the attack also could make them more reliable. "By putting the voltage just below where it should be means the device makes computational mistakes--it suffers temporary transistor failure," says UM professor Valeria Bertacco. The researchers used that insight to develop an attack method that could extract every part of a 1,024-bit key in about 100 hours. The research will lead to improvements in the way the public key security system works to make it less susceptible to this kind of attack, Bertacco says. The research also could help to produce error correction systems that identify when transistors fail and ensures that the data does not get corrupted.

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