Every Contact Leaves a Trace": Side Channel and Micro-architectural Attacks on Modern Cryptosystems

Cryptography plays a vital role in securing e-business and e-commerce transactions. However, in spite of their mathematical robustness when these algorithms are implemented they may leak sensitive information via unintended side-channels. The focus of this talk is to provide an overview of these side-channels which exist when the ciphers are executed on various platforms: from embedded systems to more general-purpose computing systems. More precisely, we start with introducing popular side-channels wherein the power consumption of a crypto-device can leak the secret key. Subsequently, we illustrate how faults can be exploited. In the later part of the talk, we illustrate how side-channels can also be extended to more general-purpose computing systems. It is rather ironic that advancements in micro-architectures often are responsible for these weaknesses. The talk attempts to elucidate the need of analyzing such leakages to develop a holistic understanding of secured systems and translate the theory to practice.

About the Speaker:
Prof. Debdeep Mukhopadhyay is currently a Professor at the Department of CSE, IIT Kharagpur. At IIT Kharagpur he initiated Secured Embedded Architecture Laboratory (SEAL), focusing on Hardware-Security. He had worked as, visiting scientist at NTU-Singapore, visiting Associate Professor of NYU-Shanghai, Assistant Professor at IIT Madras, and Visiting Researcher at NYU-Tandon School of Engineering, USA. He holds a Ph.D, M.S., and a B.Tech from IIT Kharagpur. His research interests are on the topics of Cryptographic Engineering and Hardware Security. Recently he is intrigued by adversarial attacks on machine learning and encrypted computations.

Prof. Mukhopadhyay is the recipient of the prestigious Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award 2021 for Science and Technology and is a Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineers. He was awarded Khosla National Award from IIT Roorkee 2021, DST Swarnajayanti Fellowship 2015-16, INSA Young Scientist award, INAE Young Engineer award, and Associateship for the Indian Academy of Sciences.