Hardware-based encryption: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 22:15, 24 January 2018

Revision as of 22:17, 24 January 2018

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== Advantages ==

Implementing cryptography in hardware means that part of the processor is dedicated to the task. This can lead to a large increase in speed.<ref name="performance" /> In particular, modern processor architectures that support [[Pipelining (computing)|pipelining]] can often perform other instructions concurrently with the execution of the encryption instruction. Furthermore, hardware can have methods of protecting data from software. Consequently, even if the [[Operatingoperating Systemsystem]] is compromised, the data may still be secure (see [[Software Guard Extensions]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://software.intel.com/en-us/blogs/2013/09/26/protecting-application-secrets-with-intel-sgx |title=Intel SGX for Dummies (Intel SGX Design Objectives) |work=intel.com |date=2013-09-26}}</ref>

== Disadvantages ==

If, however, the hardware implementation is compromised, major issues arise. Malicious software can retrieve the data from the (supposedly) secure hardware - a large class of method used is the [[timing attack]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.bearssl.org/constanttime.html|title=BearSSL – Constant-Time Crypto|website=www.bearssl.org|access-date=2017-01-10}}</ref> This is far more problematic to solve than a software bug, even within the [[operating system]]. [[Microsoft]] regularly deals with security issues through [[Windows Update]]. Similarly, regular security updates are released for [[Mac OS X]] and [[Linux]], as well as mobile operating systems like [[iOS]], [[Android (operating system)|Android]], and [[Windows Phone]]. However, hardware is a different issue. Sometimes, the issue will be fixable through updates to the processor's [[microcode]] (a low level type of software). However, other issues may only be resolvable through replacing the hardware, or a workaround in the operating system which mitigates the performance benefit of the hardware implementation, such as in the [[Spectre (security vulnerability)|Spectre exploit]].<ref name="PCW-20180109">{{cite web |author-last=Hachman |author-first=Mark |title=Microsoft tests show Spectre patches drag down performance on older PCs |url=https://www.pcworld.com/article/3245742/components-processors/microsoft-tests-show-spectre-patches-drag-down-performance-on-older-pcs.html |date=January 9, 2018 |work=[[PC World]] |access-date=2018-01-09}}</ref>