Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) exploit manufacturing process variations to generate unique signatures. PUF and error-correcting codes can be joined together to reliably generate cryptographically strong keys. However, the implementation of error-correcting codes is prone to physical attacks like side-channel attacks. Side-channel attacks exploit the information leaked during the computation of secret intermediate states to recover the secret key. Therefore, the implementation of error-correcting codes must also involve the implementation of proper countermeasures against side-channel attacks.

The goal of this thesis is to evaluate the side-channel resistance of a secure implementation of error-correcting codes for PUFs on FPGA. The thesis consists of the following steps:

• Get familiar with currently available implementations of error-correcting codes for PUFs
• Adapt and improve current implementations (VHDL)
• Develop a measurement setup for side-channel analysis (Matlab/Python)
• Perform side-channel analysis using the state-of-the-art EMF measurement equipment in our lab (Oscilloscope knowledge + Matlab/Python required)

 The ideal candidate should have:

• Previous experience in field of digital design (VHDL/Vivado/Xilinx FPGA)
• Basic knowledge on using lab equipment (e.g Oscilloscope,...)
• Basic knowledge in statistics
• Good programming skills in Matlab/Python
• Attendance at the lecture “Secure Implementation of Cryptographic Algorithms” is advantageous

Silicon based Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) are security primitives which can be used to derive device unique identities. Such identities can be used to identify a device or to derive a secret key.

You are interested in research in the field of Physical Unclonable Functions but you think that the topics which are listed on our page do not fit your previous knowledge or think there is no perfect match to what you are interested in? No problem! Please contact me at any time for advice regarding your thesis/student job. I can offer to

• help you with your decision for/against some topic.
• suggest probably further topics which are not advertised, yet.
• bring you into contact with other members of our chair or at Fraunhofer AISEC.

Plese send me an email which exhaustively describes your previous knowledge (e.g. your last grading sheet and a short CV) to allow me to prepare and to give you reasonable advice. Also, please provide 3-5 dates, which fit to your schedule, for a meeting.

Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) exploit manufacturing process variations to generate unique signatures. PUF and error-correcting codes can be joined together to reliably generate cryptographically strong keys. However, the implementation of error-correcting codes is prone to physical attacks like side-channel attacks. Side-channel attacks exploit the information leaked during the computation of secret intermediate states to recover the secret key. Therefore, the implementation of error-correcting codes must also involve the implementation of proper countermeasures against side-channel attacks.

The goal of this thesis is to evaluate the side-channel resistance of a secure implementation of error-correcting codes for PUFs on FPGA. The thesis consists of the following steps:

• Get familiar with currently available implementations of error-correcting codes for PUFs
• Adapt and improve current implementations (VHDL)
• Develop a measurement setup for side-channel analysis (Matlab/Python)
• Perform side-channel analysis using the state-of-the-art EMF measurement equipment in our lab (Oscilloscope knowledge + Matlab/Python required)

 The ideal candidate should have:

• Previous experience in field of digital design (VHDL/Vivado/Xilinx FPGA)
• Basic knowledge on using lab equipment (e.g Oscilloscope,...)
• Basic knowledge in statistics
• Good programming skills in Matlab/Python
• Attendance at the lecture “Secure Implementation of Cryptographic Algorithms” is advantageous

Silicon based Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) are security primitives which can be used to derive device unique identities. Such identities can be used to identify a device or to derive a secret key.

You are interested in research in the field of Physical Unclonable Functions but you think that the topics which are listed on our page do not fit your previous knowledge or think there is no perfect match to what you are interested in? No problem! Please contact me at any time for advice regarding your thesis/student job. I can offer to

• help you with your decision for/against some topic.
• suggest probably further topics which are not advertised, yet.
• bring you into contact with other members of our chair or at Fraunhofer AISEC.

Plese send me an email which exhaustively describes your previous knowledge (e.g. your last grading sheet and a short CV) to allow me to prepare and to give you reasonable advice. Also, please provide 3-5 dates, which fit to your schedule, for a meeting.

Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) exploit manufacturing process variations to generate unique signatures. PUF and error-correcting codes can be joined together to reliably generate cryptographically strong keys. However, the implementation of error-correcting codes is prone to physical attacks like side-channel attacks. Side-channel attacks exploit the information leaked during the computation of secret intermediate states to recover the secret key. Therefore, the implementation of error-correcting codes must also involve the implementation of proper countermeasures against side-channel attacks.

The goal of this thesis is to evaluate the side-channel resistance of a secure implementation of error-correcting codes for PUFs on FPGA. The thesis consists of the following steps:

• Get familiar with currently available implementations of error-correcting codes for PUFs
• Adapt and improve current implementations (VHDL)
• Develop a measurement setup for side-channel analysis (Matlab/Python)
• Perform side-channel analysis using the state-of-the-art EMF measurement equipment in our lab (Oscilloscope knowledge + Matlab/Python required)

 The ideal candidate should have:

• Previous experience in field of digital design (VHDL/Vivado/Xilinx FPGA)
• Basic knowledge on using lab equipment (e.g Oscilloscope,...)
• Basic knowledge in statistics
• Good programming skills in Matlab/Python
• Attendance at the lecture “Secure Implementation of Cryptographic Algorithms” is advantageous

Silicon based Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) are security primitives which can be used to derive device unique identities. Such identities can be used to identify a device or to derive a secret key.

You are interested in research in the field of Physical Unclonable Functions but you think that the topics which are listed on our page do not fit your previous knowledge or think there is no perfect match to what you are interested in? No problem! Please contact me at any time for advice regarding your thesis/student job. I can offer to

• help you with your decision for/against some topic.
• suggest probably further topics which are not advertised, yet.
• bring you into contact with other members of our chair or at Fraunhofer AISEC.

Plese send me an email which exhaustively describes your previous knowledge (e.g. your last grading sheet and a short CV) to allow me to prepare and to give you reasonable advice. Also, please provide 3-5 dates, which fit to your schedule, for a meeting.

Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) exploit manufacturing process variations to generate unique signatures. PUF and error-correcting codes can be joined together to reliably generate cryptographically strong keys. However, the implementation of error-correcting codes is prone to physical attacks like side-channel attacks. Side-channel attacks exploit the information leaked during the computation of secret intermediate states to recover the secret key. Therefore, the implementation of error-correcting codes must also involve the implementation of proper countermeasures against side-channel attacks.

The goal of this thesis is to evaluate the side-channel resistance of a secure implementation of error-correcting codes for PUFs on FPGA. The thesis consists of the following steps:

• Get familiar with currently available implementations of error-correcting codes for PUFs
• Adapt and improve current implementations (VHDL)
• Develop a measurement setup for side-channel analysis (Matlab/Python)
• Perform side-channel analysis using the state-of-the-art EMF measurement equipment in our lab (Oscilloscope knowledge + Matlab/Python required)

 The ideal candidate should have:

• Previous experience in field of digital design (VHDL/Vivado/Xilinx FPGA)
• Basic knowledge on using lab equipment (e.g Oscilloscope,...)
• Basic knowledge in statistics
• Good programming skills in Matlab/Python
• Attendance at the lecture “Secure Implementation of Cryptographic Algorithms” is advantageous

Silicon based Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) are security primitives which can be used to derive device unique identities. Such identities can be used to identify a device or to derive a secret key.

You are interested in research in the field of Physical Unclonable Functions but you think that the topics which are listed on our page do not fit your previous knowledge or think there is no perfect match to what you are interested in? No problem! Please contact me at any time for advice regarding your thesis/student job. I can offer to

• help you with your decision for/against some topic.
• suggest probably further topics which are not advertised, yet.
• bring you into contact with other members of our chair or at Fraunhofer AISEC.

Plese send me an email which exhaustively describes your previous knowledge (e.g. your last grading sheet and a short CV) to allow me to prepare and to give you reasonable advice. Also, please provide 3-5 dates, which fit to your schedule, for a meeting.

Silicon based Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) are security primitives which can be used to derive device unique identities. Such identities can be used to identify a device or to derive a secret key.

You are interested in research in the field of Physical Unclonable Functions but you think that the topics which are listed on our page do not fit your previous knowledge or think there is no perfect match to what you are interested in? No problem! Please contact me at any time for advice regarding your thesis/student job. I can offer to

• help you with your decision for/against some topic.
• suggest probably further topics which are not advertised, yet.
• bring you into contact with other members of our chair or at Fraunhofer AISEC.

Plese send me an email which exhaustively describes your previous knowledge (e.g. your last grading sheet and a short CV) to allow me to prepare and to give you reasonable advice. Also, please provide 3-5 dates, which fit to your schedule, for a meeting.

Silicon based Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) are security primitives which can be used to derive device unique identities. Such identities can be used to identify a device or to derive a secret key.

You are interested in research in the field of Physical Unclonable Functions but you think that the topics which are listed on our page do not fit your previous knowledge or think there is no perfect match to what you are interested in? No problem! Please contact me at any time for advice regarding your thesis/student job. I can offer to

• help you with your decision for/against some topic.
• suggest probably further topics which are not advertised, yet.
• bring you into contact with other members of our chair or at Fraunhofer AISEC.

Plese send me an email which exhaustively describes your previous knowledge (e.g. your last grading sheet and a short CV) to allow me to prepare and to give you reasonable advice. Also, please provide 3-5 dates, which fit to your schedule, for a meeting.

Physical Unclonable Functions are security primitves used for key-storage and authentication. Like every security related hardware, they are subject to attacks. For authentication protocolls with PUFs, machine learning is the main threat. However, in several publications, it is combined with side-channel observations in order to enhance performances (e.g., [1])

In this seminar, you will research state of the art regarding this attack vector on PUFs. You will provide an overview over presented attacks and discuss impact and relevance of these attacks.

The seminar (presentation and report) can be provided in German or English languag.

[1] X. Xu and W. Burleson, "Hybrid side-channel/machine-learning attacks on PUFs: A new threat?," 2014 Design, Automation & Test in Europe Conference & Exhibition (DATE), 2014, pp. 1-6, doi: 10.7873/DATE.2014.362.

Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) are security primitives, which derive a secret from tiny, device unique manufacturing variations. Since several years there is an attempt to design a PUF with challenge-response behavior, which allows for leightweight authentication. But until today, every PUF which was presented in this area has been machine learned; i.e., it is possible to derive a sufficiently accurate mathematical clone, so that secure authentication is not possible anylonger. Nevertheless, several attempts have been made to improve the situation; resent approaches are described in [1, 2].

The goal of this seminar is to illustrate the advances in machine-learning resistance of PUFs until today and to highlight different approaches taken to achieve higher resistance, and to compare benefits and drawbacks of the taken approaches.

[1] Nguyen, P. H., Sahoo, D. P., Jin, C., Mahmood, K., Rührmair, U., & van Dijk, M. (2019). The Interpose PUF: Secure PUF Design against State-of-the-art Machine Learning Attacks. IACR Transactions on Cryptographic Hardware and Embedded Systems, 2019(4), 243–290. https://doi.org/10.13154/tches.v2019.i4.243-290

[2] Z. He, W. Chen, L. Zhang, G. Chi, Q. Gao and L. Harn, "A Highly Reliable Arbiter PUF With Improved Uniqueness in FPGA Implementation Using Bit-Self-Test," in IEEE Access, vol. 8, pp. 181751-181762, 2020, doi: 10.1109/ACCESS.2020.3028514.