Anti-counterfeiting, key distribution, and key storage in an ambient world via physical unclonable functions

Virtually all applications which provide or require a security service need a secret key. In an ambient world, where (potentially) sensitive information is continually being gathered about us, it is critical that those keys be both securely deployed and safeguarded from compromise. In this paper, we provide solutions for secure key deployment and storage of keys in sensor networks and radio frequency identification systems based on the use of Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs). In addition, to providing an overview of different existing PUF realizations, we introduce a PUF realization aimed at ultra-low cost applications. We then show how the properties of Fuzzy Extractors or Helper Data algorithms can be used to securely deploy secret keys to a low cost wireless node. Our protocols are more efficient (round complexity) and allow for lower costs compared to previously proposed ones. We also provide an overview of PUF applications aimed at solving the counterfeiting of goods and devices.

Geert-Jan SchrijenEmail:

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Jorge Guajardo   is a senior scientist in the Information and System Security Department at Philips Research Europe. There he lead the efforts to design new and efficient methodologies to secure RFID systems and since 2007 has focus on the design of new anti-counterfeiting methodologies based on Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) and their applications to secure key storage and wireless sensor networks. Previous to joining Philips Research, Jorge worked for GTE Government Systems, RSA Laboratories, cv cryptovision gmbh, and Infineon Technologies AG. His interests include: the efficient implementation of cryptographic algorithms in constrained environments, the development of hardware architectures for private and public-key algorithms, provable security of cryptographic protocols under various assumptions, and the interplay of physics and cryptography to attain security goals. Jorge holds a B.Sc degree in physics and electrical engineering and M.S. in electrical engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and a Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering and information sciences from the Ruhr-Universitaet Bochum obtained under the supervision of Prof. Christof Paar. Boris Škorić   received a PhD in theoretical physics from the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in 1999. From 1999 to 2008 he was a research scientist at Philips Research in Eindhoven, working first on display physics and later on security topics. In 2008 he joined the faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science of Eindhoven Technical University, the Netherlands, as assistant professor. Pim Tuyls   studied Theoretical Physics at the Katholieke Universiteit of Leuven where he got a Ph.D. on Quantum Dynamical Entropy in 1997. Currently he works as Chief Technologist at Philips Intrinsic ID in the Netherlands where he is leading the crypto development activities. Since 2004, he is also a visiting professor at the Cosic institute in Leuven. His main interests are in Key Extraction from Noisy Data (Physical Unclonable Functions and Private Biometrics, Quantum Cryptography) and in applications of Secure Multi-Party Computation. Sandeep S. Kumar   is a Senior Researcher at Philips Research Europe. Kumar received both his B.Tech. and M.Tech. degrees in Electrical Engineering from IIT-Bombay, India in 2002. He received his Ph.D. degree in Communication Security from Ruhr University Bochum, Germany in 2006. His research interests include hardware and software architectures for implementations of cryptographic systems, in particular elliptic-curve cryptography on constrained devices. At Philips Research he has been working on hardware implementations of physically unclonable functions for anti-counterfeiting and presently on identity management systems for lifestyle applications. He is a member of the IACR. Thijs Bel   studied Chemical Differentation at the IHBO of Eindhoven. He obtained his certificate in 1984. In 1985 he joined Philips Research, first working on lithography for IC’s and later on lithography for several kinds of displays. In 2007 he joined the group Thin Film Facilities, where he has been working on PUFs and in 2008 he joined the group Device processing Facilities, working on OLEDs. Antoon H. M. Blom   studied electro technology at the Technical High School of s Hertogenbosch, where he graduated in 1978.In 1979 he joined the Philips Company at the mechanization department of the Volt site in Tilburg, a production site for wire wound components. After an intermediate period at the laboratory for tuning units and transformers within the consumer electronics department in Eindhoven, he joined the centre for manufacturing technologies, which has recently been merged with the Philips Applied Technologies department, where he is working in the Optics & Sensors group of the Process Technology department. Geert-Jan Schrijen   obtained his M.Sc. degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Twente (Enschede) in December 2000. During his studies he specialized in digital signal processing and active noise cancellation. In April 2001 he joined Philips Research. As a research scientist he became interested in the fields of cryptography and information theory and worked several years on security technologies like Digital Rights Management (DRM) systems, low-power authentication protocols and private biometric systems. From 2005 he has been involved in the work on Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs). Geert-Jan was appointed Chief Algorithm Development at the Philips Intrinsic-ID lab venture in April 2007, where he is focusing on the development of signal processing algorithms and security architectures around PUFs.