A Systematic Appraisal of Side Channel Evaluation Strategies

Melissa Azouaoui, Davide Bellizia, Ileana Buhan, Nicolas Debande, Sèbastien Duval, Christophe Giraud, Èliane Jaulmes, François Koeune, Elisabeth Oswald*, François Xavier Standaert, Carolyn Whitnall

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

In this paper we examine the central question that is how well do side channel evaluation regimes capture the true security level of a product. Concretely, answering this question requires considering the optimality of the attack/evaluation strategy selected by the evaluator, and the various steps to instantiate it. We draw on a number of published works and discuss whether state-of-the-art solutions for the different steps of a side-channel security evaluation offer bounds or guarantees of optimality, or if they are inherently heuristic. We use this discussion to provide an informal rating of the steps’ optimality and to put forward where risks of overstated security levels remain.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationSecurity Standardisation Research - 6th International Conference, SSR 2020, Proceedings
EditorsThyla van der Merwe, Chris Mitchell, Maryam Mehrnezhad
PublisherSpringer
Pages46-66
Number of pages21
ISBN (Print)9783030643560
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2020
Event6th International Conference on Security Standardisation Research, SSR 2020 - London, United Kingdom
Duration: 30 Nov 20201 Dec 2020

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
Volume12529 LNCS
ISSN (Print)0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)1611-3349

Conference

Conference6th International Conference on Security Standardisation Research, SSR 2020
Country/TerritoryUnited Kingdom
CityLondon
Period30/11/201/12/20

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work has been funded in parts by the European Union (EU) via the H2020 project 731591 (acronym REASSURE), the ERC project 724725 (acronym SWORD) and the ERC project 725042 (acronym SEAL). François-Xavier Standaert is a senior research associate of the Belgian Fund for Scientific Research (FNRS-F.R.S.). Ileana Buhan was with Riscure at the time of conducting this research.

Funding Information:
This work has been funded in parts by the European Union (EU) via the H2020 project 731591 (acronym REASSURE), the ERC project 724725 (acronym SWORD) and the ERC project 725042 (acronym SEAL). Fran¸cois-Xavier Standaert is a senior research associate of the Belgian Fund for Scientific Research (FNRS-F.R.S.). Ileana Buhan was with Riscure at the time of conducting this research.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Keywords

  • Certification
  • Evaluation
  • Side channels

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Theoretical Computer Science
  • General Computer Science

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