One Weak Link:

How Hackers Can Steal Your Entire Global Business and What You Can Do to Stop Them

Mitigate the risk and protect your hardware against side-channel attacks on its secure element.

Use of cryptographic keys, which may be algorithmically unbreakable, does not necessarily protect devices from other security threats and attacks, such as Differential Power Analysis (DPA), Differential Electromagnetic Analysis (DEMA), Fault Injection Analysis (FIA), and other side-channel attacks.

Side-channel attacks are relatively easy and inexpensive to mount against cryptographically protected devices but are notoriously difficult to defend against. In this paper, we discuss DPA attacks on smart cards with embedded microchips and external electrical contacts. Smart cards are ubiquitous: cable and satellite Pay-TV, ATM and debit/credit cards, cellular SIMs, etc.

Hackers have found ways of breaking into smart cards, stealing money, using paid services for free, and gaining unauthorized access. A new approach to protecting smart cards against DPA attacks is described, allowing manufacturers to cut protection costs and save time during development.