Real-Time Attestation Guard for IoT Data Trust
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Solution Overview
Problem
Low-end IoT devices lack effective hardware and software security practices due to limited resources and complex operating systems, making them vulnerable to hacking, which compromises the integrity and security of data used in Industry 4.0 applications.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for real-time attestation that creates a compartmentalized operating environment, generates a golden control flow hash, and validates it using a trusted guard application and remote attestation server, ensuring the integrity of processor operations and preventing external influences.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If hardware and software security practices are implemented on low-end IoT devices, then data security and integrity are improved, but device complexity and resource consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the security validation function from the main device execution path by introducing a separate guard process that runs in a secure environment. The guard process independently validates control flow hashes without interfering with the main application execution, thereby providing security without adding complexity to the core device functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a guard process as an intermediary between the main application and the security validation mechanism. This mediator validates control flow integrity by comparing generated hashes against stored reference hashes, acting as a buffer that protects the system without requiring security features to be embedded in every component.
2Reliability
If real-time attestation and control flow validation are implemented, then processor security against external influences is improved, but processing time and computational overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary validation by pre-storing reference control flow hashes in a secure database before the actual execution occurs. During runtime, the system only needs to generate new hashes and compare them against the pre-stored references, significantly reducing the computational burden compared to performing comprehensive security validation in real-time.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a simplified representation of the control flow in the form of hash values rather than copying the entire execution environment. This allows security validation to proceed with minimal computational overhead by working with condensed data representations rather than full program states.
3Reliability
If compartmentalized operating environments are created for security validation, then data trust and integrity are improved, but memory usage and system resources increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential security validation functionality into a separate guard process rather than creating complete compartmentalized operating environments. This selective extraction provides the necessary security isolation while minimizing memory consumption by excluding unnecessary system components from the secure environment.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method for real-time attestation which attests to the untouchability of processors from external influences. The system and method comprise a security mechanism that extracts information about a program's full-control execution path and then validates that information with a highly isolated guard process during runtime, which is running in a trusted environment. This trusted guard application also acts as a remote attester client and sends the currently running control flow graph to a remote attestator server on demand.