Hardware Security

Course Objective

This course covers the security of low-level computer hardware, ranging
from the memory subsystem on modern CPUs to deeply embedded systems
present almost everywhere in our everyday life. The aim of the course is
for you to familiarize with the emerging field of hardware security,
more specifically micro-architectural and circuit-level attacks,
side-channel analysis, firmware analysis, etc. Furthermore, you will
learn about the current state of the art by reproducing the results of
cutting-edge research and gathering hands-on practical experience.

Be prepared to build some of the most advanced exploits on the planet!
This is the course where you get credit points by exploiting the CPU on
your computer, breaking into embedded systems, and exfiltrating bits
directly from the circuit board!

The luckiest team will collect the infamous Best Demo Award given each
year at the end of the course.

Upon completion of this course, you will:
- have knowledge about the different offensive and defensive research
areas involving low-level hardware security (Knowledge & Understanding)
- have sufficient knowledge and experience to explore open research
problems in at least one area of hardware security (Lifelong learning
skills)
- be able to reproduce micro-architectural attacks from recent research
(Knowledge & Understanding, Applying Knowledge and Understanding, Making
Judgements, Communication)
- be familiar with techniques used to perform firmware analysis
(Knowledge & Understanding, Applying Knowledge and Understanding, Making
Judgements, Communication)
- have knowledge of common hardware communication interfaces and their
use in typical hardware. (Knowledge & Understanding, Applying Knowledge
& Understanding)

Course Content

The course is divided in two parts. In the first few weeks, you will
learn the basics of hardware security with different topics (e.g.,
reverse engineering, side-channel analysis, classical attacks, firmware
analysis, etc.) covered in lectures and individual practical
assignments. The lectures and the individual assignments run in parallel
and are meant to prepare you for a final group project in the second
part of the course. In your group project, you will get the opportunity
to dive into one of the topics covered in the course in depth, by
replicating or even improving on cutting-edge hardware security
research.

Additional Information Teaching Methods

Lectures and practical assignments.

Method of Assessment

The final grade is determined by (i) the quality and correctness of
solutions to the individual assignments and answers based on oral
discussions about them (50%), as well as (ii) the quality of the
solution of the group project (50%). Each component must be passed with
a grade >= 4. The final grade is the weighted average of the components’
grades.

There is no resit opportunity for these components.

Literature

No set book. All material will be made available during the course.

Additional Information Target Audience

MSc Computer Security

Recommended background knowledge

Knowledge of operating systems, C, computer architecture, and a keen
interest in understanding how things work under the hood. Having
attended the Binary and Malware Analysis course is strongly recommended.
Having attended the Advanced Operating Systems course is a plus