Small tweaks do not help: Differential power analysis of MILENAGE implementations in 3G/4G USIM cards

Junrong Liu, Yu Yu, FranÇois Xavier Standaert, Zheng Guo, Dawu Gu, Wei Sun, Yijie Ge, Xinjun Xie

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

47 Scopus citations

Abstract

Side-channel attacks are an increasingly important concern for the security of cryptographic embedded devices, such as the SIM cards used in mobile phones. Previous works have exhibited such attacks against implementations of the 2G GSM algorithms (COMP-128, A5). In this paper, we show that they remain an important issue for USIM cards implementing the AES-based MILENAGE algorithm used in 3G/4G communications. In particular, we analyze instances of cards from a variety of operators and manufacturers, and describe successful Differential Power Analysis attacks that recover encryption keys and other secrets (needed to clone the USIM cards) within a few minutes. Further, we discuss the impact of the operator-defined secret parameters in MILENAGE on the difficulty to perform Differential Power Analysis, and show that they do not improve implementation security. Our results back up the observation that physical security issues raise long-term challenges that should be solved early in the development of cryptographic implementations, with adequate countermeasures.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationComputer Security – ESORICS 2015 - 20th European Symposium on Research in Computer Security, Proceedings
EditorsPeter Y.A. Ryan, Günther Pernul, Edgar Weippl
PublisherSpringer Verlag
Pages468-480
Number of pages13
ISBN (Print)9783319241739
DOIs
StatePublished - 2015
Externally publishedYes
Event20th European Symposium on Research in Computer Security, ESORICS 2015 - Vienna, Austria
Duration: 21 Sep 201525 Sep 2015

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
Volume9326
ISSN (Print)0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)1611-3349

Conference

Conference20th European Symposium on Research in Computer Security, ESORICS 2015
Country/TerritoryAustria
CityVienna
Period21/09/1525/09/15

Keywords

  • Mobile network security
  • SIM cards cloning
  • Side-channel attacks

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