基于时间相关单光子计数技术的密码芯片光辐射分析∗

摘要

When in operation, cipher chips emit photons which can reveal important information about their operation and data. An experimental system based on single-photon counting for the detection, transmission, processing and analysis of photonic emission from CMOS semiconductor integrated circuits has been designed and constructed. Using time-correlated single-photon counting (TCSPC) technology, we have analyzed the photon emission of cipher chip AT89C52, and measured the relationship between its emission intensity and voltage. We have also analyzed in detail the relationship between the photonic emission and the operations and data processed in the chip at the instruction level. Furthermore, we have confirmed the feasibility of our TCSPC technique using an oscilloscope. Our experimental results show that cipher chip photonic emission analysis based on TCSPC technology is a relatively low cost but effective method for optical side-channel attacks, and that it poses a serious practical threat to cipher chip security.%密码芯片运行时的光辐射可泄露其操作和数据的重要特征信息。基于单光子探测技术，设计并构建了针对CMOS半导体集成电路芯片光辐射信号的采集、传输、处理和分析的光电实验系统。以AT89C52单片机作为实验对象，采用时间相关单光子计数技术，对不同工作电压下密码芯片的光辐射强度进行了对比，分析了芯片指令级光辐射信息的操作依赖性和数据依赖性。此外，使用示波器对时间相关单光子计数技术在芯片光辐射分析上的可行性进行了验证。实验结果表明，采用时间相关单光子计数技术对密码芯片进行光辐射分析，是一种直接有效的中低等代价光旁路分析攻击手段，对密码芯片的安全构成了严重的现实威胁。