Content deleted Content added
Bellezzasolo (talk | contribs) Changed lead to avoid confusion, added citation |
|||
Line 6:
|caption = The [[IBM 4758]] Cryptographic Module
}}
'''Hardware-based encryption''' is the use of [[computer hardware]] to assist software, or sometimes replace software, in the process of data [[encryption]]. Typically, this is implemented as part of the [[CPU|processor]]'s instruction set. For example, the [[Advanced Encryption Standard|AES]] encryption algorithm (a modern [[cipher]]) can be implemented using the [[AES instruction set]] on the ubiquitous [[x86 architecture]].<ref name="Intel AES Instructions" /> Such instructions also exist on the [[ARM architecture]].<ref name="cortex cryptography" /> However, more unusual systems exist where the cryptography module is separate from the central processor, instead being implemented as a [[coprocessor]], in particular a [[secure cryptoprocessor]], of which an example is the [[IBM 4758]], or its successor, the [[IBM 4764]].<ref name="IBM 4764" /> Hardware implementations can be faster and less prone to exploitation than traditional software implementations, and furthermore can be protected against tampering.<ref name="performance" /> However, hardware implementations use additional space on the processor die, and any security vulnerability (such as [[Spectre (security vulnerability)|Spectre]]) cannot be
== History ==
Hardware-based encryption arguably began in the 1987 with the ABYSS (A Basic Yorktown Security System) project.<ref name="ABYSS" /><ref name="building 4758" /> The aim of this project was to protect against [[software piracy]]. However, the application of computers to cryptography in general dates back to the 1940s and [[Bletchley Park]], where the [[Colossus computer]] was used to break the encryption used by German High Command during [[World War II]]. The use of computers to ''encrypt'', however, came later. In particular, until the development of the [[integrated circuit]], of which the first was produced in 1960, computers were impractical for encryption, since, in comparison to the portable [[form factor (design)|form factor]] of the [[Enigma machine]],<ref name="Crypto Enigma" /> computers of the era took the space of an entire building. It was only with the development of the [[microcomputer]] that computer encryption became feasible, outside of niche applications. The development of the [[World Wide Web]] lead to the need for consumers to have access to encryption, as [[online shopping]] became prevalent.<ref name="consumers" /> The key concerns for consumers were security and speed.<ref name="consumers" /> This led to the eventual inclusion of the key algorithms into processors as a way of both increasing speed and security.<ref name="performance" />
Line 58:
<ref name="BearSSL">{{Cite web|url=https://www.bearssl.org/constanttime.html|title=BearSSL – Constant-Time Crypto|website=www.bearssl.org|access-date=2017-01-10|deadurl=no|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170111003347/https://www.bearssl.org/constanttime.html|archivedate=2017-01-11|df=}}</ref>
<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 |deadurl=no |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180209120423/https://www.pcworld.com/article/3245742/components-processors/microsoft-tests-show-spectre-patches-drag-down-performance-on-older-pcs.html |archivedate=February 9, 2018 |df= }}</ref>
<ref name = "meltdownWorkaround">{{Cite news|url=https://www.bankinfosecurity.com/meltdown-spectre-patches-workarounds-appear-a-10558|title=Meltdown and Spectre: Patches and Workarounds Appear|access-date=2018-04-04|language=en}}</ref>
}}
{{Cryptography navbox | machines}}
| |||