Secure and Efficient RNS Approach for Elliptic Curve Cryptography

Scalar multiplication, the main operation in elliptic curve cryptographic protocols, is vulnerable to side-channel (SCA) and fault injection (FA) attacks. An efficient countermeasure for scalar multiplication can be provided by using alternative number systems like the Residue Number System (RNS). In RNS, a number is represented as a set of smaller numbers, where each one is the result of the modular reduction with a given moduli basis. Under certain requirements, a number can be uniquely transformed from the integers to the RNS domain (and vice versa) and all arithmetic operations can be performed in RNS. This representation provides an inherent SCA and FA resistance to many attacks and can be further enhanced by RNS arithmetic manipulation or more traditional algorithmic countermeasures. In this paper, extending our previous work, we explore the potentials of RNS as an SCA and FA countermeasure and provide an description of RNS based SCA and FA resistance means. We propose a secure and efficient Montgomery Power Ladder based scalar multiplication algorithm on RNS and discuss its SCAFA resistance. The proposed algorithm is implemented on an ARM Cortex A7 processor and its SCA-FA resistance is evaluated by collecting preliminary leakage trace results that validate our initial assumptions

Low Power FPGA Implementations of 256-bit Luffa Hash Function

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Privacy in a Digital, Networked World: Technologies, Implications and Solutions. By Sherali Zeadally and Mohamad Badra. Springer International Publishing: 418 pp.; $51.89; ISBN-10: 3319084690, ISBN-13: 978-3319084695

The book entitled Privacy in a Digital, Networked World: Technologies, Implications and Solutions of the series Computer Communications and Networks is the latest published book edited by Sherali Zeadally and Mohamad Badra.[...

On General Data Protection Regulation Vulnerabilities and Privacy Issues, for Wearable Devices and Fitness Tracking Applications

Individual users’ sensitive information, such as heart rate, calories burned, or even sleep patterns, are casually tracked by smart wearable devices to be further processed or exchanged, utilizing the ubiquitous capabilities of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies. This work aims to explore the existing literature on various data privacy concerns, posed by the use of wearable devices, and experimentally analyze the data exchanged through mobile applications, in order to identify the underlying privacy and security risks. Emulating a man-in-the-middle attack scenario, five different commercial fitness tracking bands are examined, in order to test and analyze all data transmitted by each vendor’s suggested applications. The amount of personal data collected, processed, and transmitted for advertising purposes was significant and, in some cases, highly affected the network’s total overhead. Some of the applications examined requested access for sensitive data driven device functionalities, such as messaging, phone calling, audio recording, and camera usage, without any clear or specific reason stated by their privacy policy. This paper concludes by listing the most critical aspects in terms of privacy and security concerning some of the most popular commercial fitness tracking applications

Hardware Limitations of Lightweight Cryptographic Designs for IoT in Healthcare

Security is an important aspect of healthcare applications that employ Internet of Things (IoT) technology. More specifically, providing privacy and ensuring the confidentiality, integrity and authenticity of IoT-based designs are crucial in the health domain because the collected data are sensitive, and the continuous availability of the system is critical for the user’s wellbeing. However, the IoT consists of resource-constrained devices that increase the difficulty of implementing high-level-security schemes. Therefore, in the current paper, renowned lightweight cryptographic primitives and their most recent architecture, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, are investigated. Their security, architecture characteristics and overall hardware limitations are analyzed and collected in tables. Finally, all the algorithms are compared based on their effectiveness in securing healthcare applications, the utilized device and the overall implementation efficiency

Hardware Limitations of Lightweight Cryptographic Designs for IoT in Healthcare

Security is an important aspect of healthcare applications that employ Internet of Things (IoT) technology. More specifically, providing privacy and ensuring the confidentiality, integrity and authenticity of IoT-based designs are crucial in the health domain because the collected data are sensitive, and the continuous availability of the system is critical for the user’s wellbeing. However, the IoT consists of resource-constrained devices that increase the difficulty of implementing high-level-security schemes. Therefore, in the current paper, renowned lightweight cryptographic primitives and their most recent architecture, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, are investigated. Their security, architecture characteristics and overall hardware limitations are analyzed and collected in tables. Finally, all the algorithms are compared based on their effectiveness in securing healthcare applications, the utilized device and the overall implementation efficiency

On General Data Protection Regulation Vulnerabilities and Privacy Issues, for Wearable Devices and Fitness Tracking Applications

Individual users’ sensitive information, such as heart rate, calories burned, or even sleep patterns, are casually tracked by smart wearable devices to be further processed or exchanged, utilizing the ubiquitous capabilities of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies. This work aims to explore the existing literature on various data privacy concerns, posed by the use of wearable devices, and experimentally analyze the data exchanged through mobile applications, in order to identify the underlying privacy and security risks. Emulating a man-in-the-middle attack scenario, five different commercial fitness tracking bands are examined, in order to test and analyze all data transmitted by each vendor’s suggested applications. The amount of personal data collected, processed, and transmitted for advertising purposes was significant and, in some cases, highly affected the network’s total overhead. Some of the applications examined requested access for sensitive data driven device functionalities, such as messaging, phone calling, audio recording, and camera usage, without any clear or specific reason stated by their privacy policy. This paper concludes by listing the most critical aspects in terms of privacy and security concerning some of the most popular commercial fitness tracking applications