Cryptographic Security Through a Hardware Root of Trust

Abstract

This work presents a novel approach to a Hardware Root-of-Trust that leverages System-on-Chip technology for the implementation of hardware cryptographic functions. Taking advantage of the processing power of a System-on-Chip, the solution established promotes hardware-based security solutions over software-only solutions. The proposed Root-of-Trust, developed around a Xilinx Zynq-7000 SoC device, integrates components based on cryptographic algorithms and physical phenomena. This innovative Root-of-Trust is tailored to support a spectrum of security tasks within cryptographic systems, including device-specific identifiers and keys, encryption and decryption, hashing, and signature generation and verification. The study adopts a unified design methodology, capitalizing on collaborative efforts to efficiently develop hardware primitives that significantly contribute to enhancing security in computing environments. Aligned with the advantages of reconfigurable hardware, this Hardware Root-of-Trust addresses the critical need for robust hardware-level security and introduces a set of countermeasures to fortify the design against potential threats.

This research was supported in part by the SPIRS Project with Grant Agreement No. 952622 under the EU H2020 research and innovation programme. The authors want to thank the ARES Project PID2020-116664RB-100 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and the EU NextGeneration EU/PRTR, and the Programa Operativo FEDER 2014-2020 and Consejería de Economía, Conocimiento, Empresas y Universidad de la Junta de Andalucía under Project US-1380823. M.C.M.R. holds a postdoc fellowship from the Andalusia Government with support from PO FSE of EU.