During the early days of safecracking, rudimentary rotary locks were compromised by feel or sound to determine the correct combination. Following in this tradition, a security researcher known as Plore recently demonstrated how side-channel attacks can be exploited to unlock “high security” electronic safes without leaving any evidence of unauthorized access.
Safecracking goes high-tech with side-channel attacks
Smart Data Acceleration with FPGAs and DRAM
The proliferation of connected devices has significantly increased the amount of data being captured, moved and analyzed. This trend is expected to continue well into the foreseeable future as the rapidly burgeoning Internet of Things (IoT) ramps up. Perhaps not surprisingly, the exponential increase in data has created a number of new bottlenecks in data centers, prompting the industry to examine fresh approaches to system architecture.
Protecting avionic systems from side-channel attack
Asaf Ashkenazi, a senior director of product marketing at Rambus’ security division, recently sat down with Neil Tyler of NewElectronicsto discuss the potential threat side-channel attacks pose to avionic systems.
As Tyler points out, encryption is typically used to protect aerospace platforms. Although it is difficult to break the cryptographic algorithm itself, devices can readily reveal information during routine operations from such factors as power consumption, heat dissipation, time of computation and electromagnetic leaks.
ChipEstimate and Rambus look beyond DDR4
Frank Ferro, a senior director of product management at Rambus, has penned an article for ChipEstimate about the future of DRAM in the age of the IoT. According to Ferro, the semiconductor industry has traditionally relied on Dennard Scaling and Moore’s Law to ensure the creation of ever more advanced process nodes at a steady cadence.
“However, development costs at each advanced node continue to multiply as Moore’s Law begins to slow and Dennard Scaling fades into the distant past,” he explained.
Rambus eyes the future of smart ticketing
Now a part of Rambus’ security division, Ecebs provides smartcard solutions for governments, transport operators, banks and systems integrators. This makes Rambus one of the leading providers of ITSO-compliant smart ticketing solutions.
The strategic addition of Ecebs to our security division has allowed us to create a more comprehensive and dynamic product stack. At the base, we enable foundational security with our DPA technology, architecture and design. The second level of the stack helps customers facilitate secure provisioning and management with CryptoManager, which is built around a hardware-based root-of-trust. The third level, or top tier of the stack, offers smart ticketing (viaEcebs) and mobile payments (via Bell ID).
Let’s talk about VIDITY and 4K UHD
Home Media Magazine staff recently sat down with David Huerta, GM of the Secure Content Storage Association (SCSA), to talk aboutVIDITY. Essentially, VIDITY allows consumers to download, store and play 4K Ultra HD movies with high dynamic range (HDR) across a plethora of devices.
“With VIDITY, a single content purchase gives the consumer comprehensive ownership — not just a license, but ownership — of whatever title they’ve selected. With that purchase, they download 4K UHD with HDR and HD and/or SD files of the film, along with additional copyrights,” Huerta told the publication.
