PUF Authentication via Binary String Shuffling to Prevent Modeling Attacks
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current authentication technologies using physically unclonable functions (PUFs) are vulnerable to modeling attacks and require storage of sensitive challenge-response pairs, increasing the risk of security breaches.
Innovation Solution
A method for authenticating devices using a system that generates and shuffles random numbers based on counter values, obscures challenge-response relationships, and requires correct input messages for access to the PUF circuit, reducing the need for non-linearities and enhancing security by storing only necessary information on the queried device.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If challenge-response pairs are stored in a secure database for authentication verification, then authentication reliability is improved, but security risk increases due to potential database breaches and modeling attacks
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the vulnerable challenge-response pairs from the authentication process and replaces them with shuffled random numbers stored in the database. Only the shuffled values are stored, while the actual challenge-response relationships are computed dynamically during authentication, eliminating the security risk of storing sensitive authentication data while maintaining verification reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces shuffled random numbers as an intermediary between the challenge and response. These shuffled values serve as a mediator that obscures the direct relationship between challenges and responses, allowing verification to proceed through multiple computational steps that prevent direct modeling attacks while ensuring authentication reliability
2Reliability
If multiple random challenges are used during enrollment to enhance security, then security against replay attacks is improved, but storage requirements and database breach risk increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent discards the need to store multiple challenge-response pairs by using a single set of shuffled random numbers that can be reused indefinitely. The shuffled values are recovered and reused for each authentication session, eliminating the need for incremental storage while maintaining security against replay attacks through dynamic reshuffling
3Speed
If sensitive authentication information is stored on the queried device, then authentication speed is improved, but vulnerability to device compromise increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts sensitive authentication information from the queried device and relocates it to the querying device's secure database. Only non-sensitive shuffled random numbers are stored on the queried device, eliminating the vulnerability to device compromise while maintaining fast authentication through local computation of verification values
Data Source
AI summary
A computer-implemented method for authentication of a queried device having an electrical circuit exhibiting physically unclonable functions (PUFs). The method includes: at the queried device, generating a first random number based on an initial first counter value; matching the first random number against a first value of a record stored in a database of a querying device, the record including second (shuffled) and third values; at the queried device, generating a second random number based on a once incremented first counter value, deterministically generating a de-shuffled second value based on an initial second counter value, determining that the second random number matches the de-shuffled second value, and submitting sub-challenges corresponding to the second random number to the electrical circuit to generate a response; and, at the querying device, determining that the response matches the third value of the record to complete a first authentication of the queried device.