[Resource Topic] 2009/473: A Simple Power Analysis Attack on the Serpent Key Schedule

Welcome to the resource topic for 2009/473

Title:
A Simple Power Analysis Attack on the Serpent Key Schedule

Authors: Kevin J. Compton, Brian Timm, Joel VanLaven

Abstract:

We describe an SPA attack on an 8-bit smart card implementation of the Serpent block cipher. Our attack uses measurements taken during an on-the-fly key expansion together with linearity in the cipher’s key schedule algorithm to drastically reduce the search time for an initial key. An implementation finds 256-bit keys in 3.736 ms on average. Our work shows that linearity in key schedule design and other cryptographic applications should be carefully evaluated for susceptibility to side-channel attacks and that search algorithm design can greatly speed up side-channel attacks.

ePrint: https://eprint.iacr.org/2009/473

See all topics related to this paper.

Feel free to post resources that are related to this paper below.

Example resources include: implementations, explanation materials, talks, slides, links to previous discussions on other websites.

For more information, see the rules for Resource Topics .