Archive Article

Power Analysis of a Software DES Encryption Routine

This article continues the foray into breaking software security routines, now targeting a software implementation of DES. This builds on a previous example of breaking a hardware AES example.

By Colin O’Flynn

In the previous column, I broke a simple XOR password check using side-channel power analysis. How can we apply this to more complex algorithms though? In my Circuit   Cellar   313   (August   2016) story, I demonstrated how to break the AES encryption standard running on a FPGA.

The EFF’s “Deep Crack” board could brute force a DES key in a matter of days. (Photo courtesy of Electronic Frontier Foundation)

The EFF’s “Deep Crack” board could brute force a DES key in a matter of days. (Photo courtesy of Electronic Frontier Foundation)

While I originally considered breaking a software implementation of AES in this column, there was just too much overlap between those columns. So instead I decided to pick on something new. This time, I’ll cover how we can break a software implementation of DES. The actual process ends up being very similar. But by using a different algorithm, it might help give you a bit of perspective on how the underlying  attack  works.  ….

Read this article in the August 325 issue of Circuit Cellar

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Power Analysis of a Software DES Encryption Routine

by Circuit Cellar Staff time to read: 1 min