Flush Code Eraser: Fast Attack Response Invalidating Cryptographic Sensitive Data

Abstract

Fault-injection attacks against cryptographic devices have been studied in great detail. As a countermeasure to such attacks, the flush code eraser (FCE) has been proposed. The FCE realizes a new attack reaction in which sensitive data in a cryptographic device are quickly invalidated by redistributing the electrons in the circuits. In this letter, we discuss the abilities of the FCE by evaluating the data invalidation period with experiments using a test chip. As a result, the invalidation period is estimated to be approximately 80 ps, which enhances the security of the cryptographic device and also prevents the possibility of the future attacks.