Collaborative Research: CT-T: Adaptive Security and Separation in Reconfigurable Hardware

从蓝牙收发器到NASA火星探测器，可重构电路已经成为嵌入式设计的支柱之一。将专用电路的高计算性能与软件的可重编程性相结合，这些设备正迅速变得无处不在。不幸的是，如果不加以保护，这种可重构性可能被利用来扰乱关键操作、窥探理应安全的通道，甚至物理上熔断设备。然而，一种控制硬件逻辑更改的新方法有望克服这些问题。此外，该硬件固有的延展性为硬件实施自适应安全策略提供了机会。例如，在紧急情况下，受信任的个人可能需要覆盖名义安全策略。因此，可重构组件可以在不断变化的环境中为安全功能提供高度可信的机制。本研究旨在通过加强可重构硬件的逻辑结构和内部管理来实施动态信息保护策略，以填补我国信息基础设施中的一个巨大安全漏洞。具体地说，这项研究将：(1)发现硬件合成和静态验证方法，以确保只能加载安全和非破坏性的配置；(2)开发新的可重构结构，通过使用硬件编译的正式访问策略语言，能够安全地协调对共享资源的运行时访问；以及(3)通过本体分析、形式化建模和集成前两个活动的结果的管理机制的开发，为可信的动态策略实施建立坚实的基础。

From Bluetooth transceivers to the NASA Mars Rover, reconfigurable circuits have become one of the mainstays of embedded design. Combining the high computational performance of specialized circuits with the re-programmability of software, these devices are quickly becoming ubiquitous. Unfortunately, if unprotected, this reconfigurability could be exploited to disrupt critical operations, snoop on supposedly secure channels, or even to physically melt a device. However, a new approach to controlling changes to the hardware logic promises to overcome these problems. In addition, the innate malleability of this hardware presents the opportunity for hardware enforcement of adaptive security policies. For example, in an emergency, trusted individuals may need to override the nominal security policy. Thus, the reconfigurable component may provide a highly trusted mechanism for secure functionality in changing environments.This research aims to close a gaping security hole in our nation's information infrastructure by enhancing the logical structure and internal management of reconfigurable hardware to enforce a dynamic information protection policy. Specifically, this research will: (1) discover hardware synthesis and static validation methods that will ensure that only secure and non-destructive configurations can be loaded, (2) develop new reconfigurable structures capable of securely mediating run-time access to shared resources through the use of hardware-compiled formal access policy languages, and (3) establish a firm foundation for trustworthy dynamic policy enforcement through ontological analysis, formal modeling and the development of management mechanisms integrating the results of the first two activities.