Vulnerability Analysis of security ICs against Laser Fault Injection

Mitard, Kyle

Student Work

Vulnerability Analysis of security ICs against Laser Fault Injection

Public Deposited

Lasers offer an unparalleled level of precision when injecting faults into FPGAs and other integrated circuits due to their ability to precisely target specific areas of a chip with minimal effects on everything else. However, the single biggest challenge in conducting a laser fault injection attack is finding where to fire the laser, which we solve using this paper. We first locate LUTs and registers on a Xilinx Kintex-7 FPGA via photon emission, and from there we use an automated ”brute force” search that we developed for an AlphaNov laser microscope station to draw a fault sensitivity map for each type of logic element. Using the information we gathered from these maps and our experience developing the procedure, we suggest possible countermeasures and demonstrate a laser fault attack on a simple password lock.

This report represents the work of one or more WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of completion of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its website without editorial or peer review.

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