Hardware-based encryption: Difference between revisions

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Hardware-based encryption arguably began in the 1987 with the ABYSS (A Basic Yorktown Security System) project.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.computer.org/csdl/proceedings/sp/1987/0771/00/07710038.pdf|title=ABYSS: A Trusted Architecture for Software Protection|access-date={{date|2018-01-20}}}}</ref><ref name="building 4758">{{cite web|url=http://www.research.ibm.com/people/s/sailer/publications/2001/ibm4758.pdf|title=Building the IBM 4758 Secure Coprocessor |access-date={{date|2018-01-20}}|publisher=[[IBM]]}}</ref> 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 2]]. The use of computers to ''encrypt'', however, came later. In particular, until the development of the [[Intergrated 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>{{cite web|url=http://www.cryptomuseum.com/kits/enigma/support/files/case.pdf|publisher=Crypto Museum|title=Enigma-E case|access-date={{date|2018-01-20}}}}</ref> 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">{{cite web | url=http://ecommercenews.eu/consumers-online-shopping-expectations/ | title=Consumers and their online shopping expectations – Ecommerce News | date={{date|2015-2-20}}| accessdate={{date|2016-08-29}}}}</ref> 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" />

== Implementations ==

=== In the [[Instructioninstruction Set]]set ===

==== [[x86]] ====

{{Main|AES instruction set|Intel SHA extensions}}

The [[X86]] [[Computer architecture|architecture]], as a [[Complex instruction set computer|CISC (Complex Instruction Set Computer)]] Architecture, typically implements complex [[algorithms]] in hardware. Cryptographic algorithms are no exception. The x86 architecture implements significant components of the [[Advanced Encryption Standard|AES (Advanced&nbsp;Encryption&nbsp;Standard)]] algorithm, which can be used by the [[NSA]] for [[Top Secret]] information.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://csrc.nist.gov/groups/ST/toolkit/documents/aes/CNSS15FS.pdf |title=National Policy on the Use of the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) to Protect National Security Systems and National Security Information |author=Lynn Hathaway |date={{date|June 2003}}|format=PDF |access-date={{date|2011-02-15}}}}</ref> The architecture also includes support for the [[Secure Hash Algorithms|SHA]] Hashing Algorithms through the [[Intel SHA extensions]].<ref name="Intel AES Instructions" /> Whereas AES is a cipher, which is useful for encrypting documents, [[Hash function|Hashing]] is used for verification, such as of passwords (see [[PBKDF2]]).

==== ARM ====

[[ARM processorsprocessor]]s can optionally support Security Extensions. Although ARM is a [[RISC|RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer)]] architecture, there are several optional extensions specified by [[ARM Holdings]].<ref name="cortex cryptography" /><ref name="openwrt">[http://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/hardware/cryptographic.hardware.accelerators Cryptographic Hardware Accelerators] on OpenWRT.org</ref>

=== As a coprocessor ===

* [[IBM 4758]] - The predecessor to the [[IBM 4764]]. This includes its own specialised processor, [[Random-access memory|memory]] and a [[Random Number Generator]].

* [[IBM 4764]] - This is identical to the [[IBM 4765]], except for the connection used. The former uses [[PCI-X]], while the latter uses [[PCI-e]].<ref name="IBM 4764" /> Both are [[peripheral devices]] that plug into the [[motherboard]].

== 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 [[Operating System]] 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>