Basel Halak - Authentication of Embedded Devices: Technologies, Protocols and Emerging Applications

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Authentication is the process of verifying the identity of a person or a physical object. One of the earliest techniques for authentication dates back to the Babylonian time in 200 BC, wherein fingerprints were used to sign contracts, which are subsequently verified by visual inspection.

Nowadays, authentication has become an integral part of electronic engineering and computer science fields. A trend driven by the proliferation of computing devices in all corners of modern life and the increased reliance on these to access services and resources online. Additionally, there are a rising number of applications that require the verification of the identity of an electronic device, such as tracking goods in manufacturing processes; secure products transfer in the consumer services industry, gaining access to subscribed TV channels, cash withdrawal in banking systems, and boarder control using e-passports.

Each of these applications has a diverse set of security requirements and a different amount of resources, which means existing solutions are no longer sufficient, either because they are too weak or because they are too expensive. This has led to a number of successful large scale cyber-attacks on vulnerable devices such as those extensively used for the internet-of things applications.

Another factor that is driving the development of new authentication schemes the significant levels of outsourcing in the hardware supply chain, which has increased the risk of integrated circuits (IC) counterfeit and intellectual property (IP) piracy. This means that there is an increase in the need to verify the authenticity of the electronic circuity in order to ensure that computing device is not forged or compromised.

The development of secure and efficient authentication schemes is therefore crucial to ensure the continued safe use of digital technology.

The prime objective of this book is to provide a timely and coherent account of the latest advances in the key research areas of authentication technology for semiconductor products. It has been developed as a collaborative effort among two international research groups, each providing an-up-to date summary of their latest findings and highlighting remaining challenges and research opportunities. To facilitate the understanding of the material, each chapter includes background information explaining related terminologies and principles, in addition to a comprehensive list of relevant references. The book is divided into three parts to enhance its readability, namely; fingerprinting technologies, protocols and emerging applications of authentication schemes.

This book explains principles of fingerprinting techniques with a special focus on hardware-based technologies, including physically unclonable functions and IC fingerprinting methods.

Afterwords, the book presents a number of state-of-the-art authentication protocols tailored for internet-of-things devices and energy-constrained systems. The development process of each protocol is discussed in details to allow reproducibility of the work. More specifically, the book explains how the design specifications of each protocol are derived from the system requirement, how to validate security assumptions using Scyther, and how to develop a hardware proof of concept for cost estimation and comparative analysis with existing solutions.