The Infineon SLE 66 CL PE chip can be found in a lot of products, including smart cards, the Xbox 360, and normal computers. It’s a good chip, too, with lots of security measures in place. But it could perhaps use a few more, as a researcher has figured out how to compromise it. Infineon Chip’s Weakness Discovered Christopher Tarnovsky, who works for Flylogic Engineering, employed electron microscopy to achieve the feat. Tim Wilson reports, “Using a painstaking process of analyzing the chip, Tarnovsky was able to identify the core and create a ‘bridge map’ that enabled the bypass of its complex web of defenses, which is set up to disable the chip if tampering occurs.” Then, “After creating the map, he used ultra-small needles to tap into the data bus - without disturbing the protective mesh - and essentially ‘read’ all of the chip’s stored data, including encryption keys and unique manufacturing information.” Obviously, this isn’t a quick, easy, or inexpensive procedure. It took Tarnovsky about nine months to perfect his approach, and electron microscopes don’t exactly litter the floor of the average hacker’s house (new units often sell for at least $70,000). It looks like Infineon either has some work to do or some admissions to make, though.
More here:
Infineon Chip’s Weakness Discovered
You must be logged in to post a comment.