PQC-SEP: Power Side-channel Evaluation Platform for Post-Quantum Cryptography Algorithms

Research in post-quantum cryptography (PQC) aims to develop cryptographic algorithms that can withstand classical and quantum attacks. The recent advance in the PQC field has gradually switched from the theory to the implementation of cryptographic algorithms on hardware platforms. In addition, the PQC standardization process of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is currently in its third round. It specifies ease of protection against side-channel analysis (SCA) as an essential selection criterion. Following this trend, in this paper, we evaluate side-channel leakages of existing PQC implementations using PQC-SEP, a completely automated side-channel evaluation platform at both pre-and post-silicon levels. It automatically estimates the amount of side-channel leakage in the power profile of a PQC design at early design stages, i.e., RTL, gate level, and physical layout level. It also efficiently validates side-channel leakages at the post-silicon level against artificial intelligence (AI) based SCA models and traditional SCA models. Further, we delineate challenges and approaches for future research directions

Rethinking Watermark: Providing Proof of IP Ownership in Modern SoCs

Intellectual property (IP) cores are essential to creating modern system-on-chips (SoCs). Protecting the IPs deployed in modern SoCs has become more difficult as the IP houses have been established across the globe over the past three decades. The threat posed by IP piracy and overuse has been a topic of research for the past decade or so and has led to creation of a field called watermarking. IP watermarking aims of detecting unauthorized IP usage by embedding excess, nonfunctional circuitry into the SoC. Unfortunately, prior work has been built upon assumptions that cannot be met within the modern SoC design and verification processes. In this paper, we first provide an extensive overview of the current state-of-the-art IP watermarking. Then, we challenge these dated assumptions and propose a new path for future effective IP watermarking approaches suitable for today\u27s complex SoCs in which IPs are deeply embedded