MIT and TI team up for hack-proof RFID chips
24 February 2016
News
MIT researchers have developed a new type of radio frequency identification (RFID) chip that is extremely difficult to hack.
If such chips were widely adopted, it could mean that an identity thief couldn’t steal your credit card number or key card information by sitting next to you at a café, and high-tech burglars couldn’t swipe expensive goods from a warehouse and replace them with dummy tags. Texas Instruments has built several prototypes of the new chip, to the researchers’ specifications, and in experiments the chips have behaved as expected.
The chip is designed to prevent so-called side-channel attacks which analyse patterns of memory access or fluctuations in power usage when a device is performing a cryptographic operation, in order to extract its cryptographic key. Since a given execution of the cryptographic algorithm only leaks a slight amount of information, a hacker needs to execute the cryptographic algorithm with the same secret many, many times to get enough leakage to extract a complete secret.
One way to thwart side-channel attacks is to regularly change secret keys. In that case, the RFID chip would run a random number generator that would spit out a new secret key after each transaction. A central server would run the same generator, and every time an RFID scanner queried the tag, it would relay the results to the server, to see if the current key was valid.
Such a system would still, however, be vulnerable to a ‘power glitch’ attack, in which the RFID chip’s power would be repeatedly cut right before it changed its secret key. An attacker could then run the same side-channel attack thousands of times, with the same key. Power-glitch attacks have been used to circumvent limits on the number of incorrect password entries in password-protected devices, but RFID tags are particularly vulnerable to them, since they’re charged by tag readers and have no onboard power supplies.
Two design innovations allow the MIT researchers’ chip to thwart power-glitch attacks. One is an on-chip power supply whose connection to the chip circuitry would be virtually impossible to cut, and the other is a set of non-volatile memory cells that can store whatever data the chip is working on when it begins to lose power.
Further reading:
From the editor’s desk: Windows 10’s end of support arrives bringing industrial risks
Technews Publishing
News
By the time you read this column, support for non-LTSC editions of Windows 10 will have ended, officially having their last day on 14 October 2025. This means no more security patches, feature updates,
...
Read more...
Electronic News Digest
News
A brief synopsis of current global news relating to the electronic engineering fields with regards to company finances, general company news, and engineering technologies.
Read more...
Correction: Marijana Abt, Rebound Electronics
News
In the August issue of
Dataweek magazine, the article titled ‘Celebrating innovation, leadership, and the next generation’ featured Marijana Abt, senior account manager at Rebound Electronics. Owing
...
Read more...
Trasna and RF Design announce distribution agreement
RF Design
News
Trasna and RF Design have announced a strategic distribution agreement for cellular IoT solutions which will ensure seamless availability of Trasna’s cellular connectivity solutions.
Read more...
Local partnership puts demand-side management to work in South Africa
News
Sensor Networks has partnered with European demand-side management specialist ThermoVault to bring advanced load-shifting capabilities to one of the country’s biggest energy consumers: the household geyser.
Read more...
Hisense SA launches year-long learnership programme for youth
News
Hisense SA’s manufacturing plant in Atlantis recently welcomed 100 young people from the local community, to embark on a year-long learnership and skills development programme.
Read more...
Comtest hosts channel partners
Comtest
News
Comtest, together with FLUKE, recently set the stage for an unforgettable afternoon as they welcomed over 80 Channel Partners to their annual celebration of excellence.
Read more...
RS South Africa and Qhubeka empower learners through the gift of mobility
RS South Africa
News
Through its bicycle donation initiative, 354 bicycles have been distributed to date, empowering students to access education more easily by reducing the physical and economic barriers posed by long daily commutes.
Read more...
Deca and SST announce strategic collaboration
News
The collaboration provides customers with a modular, memory-centric foundation for advanced multi-die architectures.
Read more...
Specialised Exhibitions transitions to new name: Montgomery Group Africa
News
As part of a strategic move to streamline operations, strengthen regional alignment, and support long-term growth, Specialised Exhibitions has transitioned to a new name: Montgomery Group Africa.
Read more...
printer friendly version