CRII: SaTC: Investigation of Side-Channel Attack Vulnerability in Near-Threshold Computing Systems

计算系统的安全漏洞每年造成数十亿美元的经济损失，恶意攻击留下的无形破坏性后果是不可估量的。与此同时，近阈值计算(NTC)作为一种通过降低电源电压来提高能效的有前景的解决方案而出现，使其对从物联网(IoT)设备到云计算设施的广泛应用具有吸引力。随着NTC在主流计算系统中的预期采用，NTC特有的安全漏洞将被利用的时机已经成熟。该项目的目标是通过对NTC独特的边通道攻击(SCA)漏洞进行彻底和系统的调查，首次解决NTC的安全问题。边通道攻击依赖于从密码系统的物理实施中泄露的信息。边通道攻击可能是网络威胁中最隐蔽和最复杂的之一。在这个项目中，我们不再将安全性作为传统硬件开发中的事后考虑，而是探索早期预防性方法，以确定设计阶段跨不同硬件实现层的安全问题，并调查计算系统中效率和安全性之间的基本权衡。我们对NTC安全影响的调查将为设计未来高效和安全的计算系统提供关键的见解和方法。由于其跨学科性质，我们的研究项目将促进在电路设计、计算机体系结构和密码学等关键安全领域精通的强大劳动力的发展和培训。

Security breaches in computing systems cost billions of dollars in economic damages every year, and the intangible destructive consequences left by malicious attacks are inestimable. Meanwhile, near-threshold computing (NTC) emerges as a promising solution to improve energy efficiency by reducing the supply voltage, making it attractive for a broad range of applications from Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices to cloud computing facilities. With the anticipated adoption of NTC in mainstream computing systems, security vulnerabilities that are unique to NTC will be ripe for exploitation. The objective of this project is to, for the first time, address NTC security concerns by performing a thorough and systematic investigation of its unique vulnerabilities to Side-Channel Attack (SCA) - attacks that rely on information leaked from the physical implementation of a cryptosystem.Side-channel attacks are perhaps one of the most covert and sophisticated among cyber threats. Instead of treating security as an after-thought in traditional hardware development, in this project, we explore early-stage preventative methods to identify secure concerns in the design phase across different hardware implementation layers, and investigate the fundamental trade-off between efficiency and security in computing systems. Our investigation of the security implications of NTC will provide critical insights and methodologies for designing future efficient and secure computing systems. Due to its multi-disciplinary nature, our research project will promote the development and training of a strong workforce well-versed in the critical security domain across circuit design, computer architecture, and cryptography.