Elliptic Curve Blinding Function for Side Channel Attack Mitigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Elliptic curve cryptographic algorithms are susceptible to side channel attacks, such as timing and power analysis attacks, which can reveal private information by measuring physical parameters during cryptographic operations.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a blinding function that generates random values and applies them to scalar multiplications in elliptic curve cryptographic operations, using different blinding values for each operation to obscure the original values and prevent side channel attacks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If efficient implementations of cryptographic algorithms are used, then computational efficiency is improved, but side channel attacks become more effective because different amounts of work are performed based on secret bit values
Solution Approach 1:
A blinding function is introduced as an intermediary component between the cryptographic operation and the physical measurement. This blinding function randomizes the execution path by introducing additional random values that mask the relationship between secret bit values and physical measurements, thereby preventing side channel attacks while maintaining computational efficiency
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter space by introducing random blinding values that modify the execution parameters of the cryptographic algorithm. These parameter changes create variability in the execution trace that is independent of the secret values, making it impossible to correlate physical measurements with secret bit values
2Object-affected harmful factors
If blinding functions are applied to randomize scalar multiplications, then side channel attack resistance is improved, but device complexity increases due to additional computational steps
Solution Approach 1:
The blinding function performs preliminary actions by pre-computing random values and establishing the blinding mechanism before the actual cryptographic operation. This preliminary setup allows the main cryptographic computation to proceed with standardized operations, reducing the overhead of repeated blinding/unblinding cycles during actual crypto operations
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses copying by creating a blinded version of the random value rather than modifying the original. The blinding function generates a new random value that is combined with the original through scalar multiplication, creating a copy that carries the security properties while allowing the original to remain unchanged and reusable
Data Source
AI summary
A blinding function is generated. The blinding function is applied to a random value to generate a blinded random value. The blinded random value is utilized for one or more scalar multiplications in an elliptic curve cryptographic operation.