EM radiation analysis on true random number generators: Frequency and localization retrieval method

Pierre Bayon (1) , Lilian Bossuet (1) , Alain Aubert (1) , Viktor Fischer (1)

1 LHC - Laboratoire Hubert Curien

True random number generators (TRNGs) are significant piece of hardware security that are used to generate secret keys, initial values or random masks for counter measures against side-channel attacks. Thus the security of implementation in hardware of such block is crucial. The work presented in this paper show that it is possible to find information on a TRNG using its electromagnetic radiations. The proposed analysis is suitable to retrieve information on the localization, oscillator frequency and sampling frequency of the TRNG.

Keywords: Ring Oscillator; TRNG; EM radiation analysis; Passive attack; Near-field

Domains: Computer Science [cs]; Embedded Systems; Computer Science [cs]; Cryptography and Security [cs.CR]; Engineering Sciences [physics]; Signal and Image processing; Computer Science [cs]; Signal and Image Processing

Pierre Bayon, Lilian Bossuet, Alain Aubert, Viktor Fischer. EM radiation analysis on true random number generators: Frequency and localization retrieval method. EEE Asia-Pacific International Symposium and Exhibition on Electromagnetic Compatibility, APEMC 2013, Melbourne, Australia, May 2013, May 2013, melbourne, Australia. pp.1. ⟨ujm-00833822⟩