An evaluation of hash functions on a power analysis resistant processor architecture

Abstract

Cryptographic hash functions are an omnipresent component in security-critical software and devices; they support digital signature and data authenticity schemes, mechanisms for key derivation, pseudo-random number generation and so on. A criterion for candidate hash functions in the SHA-3 contest is resistance against side-channel analysis which is a major concern especially for mobile devices. This paper explores the implementation of said candidates on a variant of the Power-Trust platform; our results highlight a flexible solution to power analysis attacks, implying only a modest performance overhead. © 2011 IFIP International Federation for Information Processing.