Cryptography Stack Exchange
Cryptography Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [puf]

A PUF (Physical Uncloneable Function) is a method for designing a circuit which it is infeasible to reproduce or simulate exactly, and from which a unique secret key can be extracted.

A PUF (Physical Uncloneable Function) is a method for effectively embedded a unique secret key in a hardware chip. Minute unpredictable details of the chip manufacturing process results in a circuit which is infeasible to reproduce or simulate exactly. A unique secret key can be derived by invoking the circuit with a series of inputs.

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In what sense are silicon PUFs unclonable?

I see quite a few publications on Physically Unclonable Functions implemented using regular silicon IC techniques; for example A 0.19pJ/b PVT-variation-tolerant hybrid physically unclonable function circuit for 100% stable secure key generation in…
fgrieu
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Why is SRAM PUF considered weak PUF?

I have read in many places that SRAM PUF is considered a weak PUF, since it generates a single response (based on the value of all RAM cells upon power-up). Why can't I use just a limited number of bytes from the RAM space in order to create a CRP?…
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What is the security concept in printer cartridge?

Based on this datasheet or this patent, one of the usage of PUF is printer cartridge identification and authentication. I was wondering why printer cartridge needs identification and authentication. In other words, what is the security concept…
Shannon
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How does PUF hardware help in software activation?

I have read that one of the PUF's application is software licensing, but do not know how. I have been reading different articles and forums (such as here), but still not clear for me. One vague point for me is that PUF is a hardware and I do not…
Shannon
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How is the inter and the intra distance of a PUF calculated?

I was wondering, if I want to calculate the intra distance of a PUF, and I have already measured $n$ times a response to a challenge. Do I choose one reference value and compare the hamming distance of it to all other values $n-1$ comparisons? Or do…
Ulli
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Do Quantum Key Distribution and Physical Unclonable Functions combine, and how?

I see there's a project to combine Quantum Key Distribution, Physical Unclonable Functions, and classical crypto, in order to secure a high speed (100Gb/s) optical link. While there does not seem to be a direct combination of QKD and PUF in that…
fgrieu
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Helper data authentication in PUFs

As I understand, PUFs work by using two procedures: generation and reproduction. Generation reads a value $w$ from a fuzzy source and generates a key $R$ and helper data $P$. Then, in the reproduction procedure, it reads $w'$ from the fuzzy source…
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What stops a physical attacker to use a dumped uninitialized SRAM with SRAM-PUF?

Does SRAM-PUF require the microcontroller/system to be (1) on the same silicon piece and (2) to prevent access from dumping the SRAM in an uninitialized state in order to be tamper-proof? In SRAM PUF, there are two types of challenges that can be…
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Why is the helper data of a fuzzy extractor considered a good model for memory leakage?

In "Memory Leakage-Resilient Encryption based on Physically Unclonable Functions" (ASIACRYPT2009), the authors use a construction based on a PUF and a Fuzzy Extractor and argue that this yields a Memory-leakage resilient encryption. The definition…
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How does PUF authentication work?

I understand that PUFs (physically unclonable functions) produce unique output based on challenge input because of their sensitivity to manufacturing differences, but not how the actual authentication works. It sounds like one approach is to have a…
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Correlations in ring oscillator PUFs

A bunch of silicon Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) designs rely on variations of the propagation delay (due to process variation) of signals in different path. In many cases, a challenge selects the paths (e.g. using a muxer) to be compared and…
DurandA
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What machine learning accuracy is assumed to be predictable for TRNG/PUF application?

In regular machine learning (ML) applications, usually an accuracy of greater than 95% is desired. In an ideal TRNG/PUF applications, unpredictable behavior (50% accuracy with ML models) is desired. How do we define the predictability in these…
Shannon
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Ring oscillator based PUF

I am unable to understand why - using a counter comparison based ring oscillator PUF - the output bit is either 0 or 1. Since the output is one bit I don't see how multi bit responses are obtained. Using this information how can I calculate intra-…
user70750
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How does the offline authentication work?

In these slides, offline and online PUF-based authentication protocols are explained in minute 16:30 and 17:30, respectively. I understand the way the online protocol works. Basically, the server keeps a table of CRPs, sends a challenge, then…
Shannon
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Applicability of physical unclonable functions for public-key cryptography

Can physical unclonable functions (PUFs) be used to protect secrets against physical tampering in the context of public-key cryptography? Some solutions (i.e. ChipDNA or QuiddiKey) apparently use PUFs to protect their private key that are used to…
DurandA
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