SpectreGuard: An Efficient Data-Centric Defense Mechanism against Spectre Attacks
| Title | SpectreGuard: An Efficient Data-Centric Defense Mechanism against Spectre Attacks |
| Publication Type | Conference Paper |
| Year of Publication | 2019 |
| Authors | Jacob Fustos, Farzad Farshchi, Heechul Yun |
| Conference Name | Proceedings of the 56th Annual Design Automation Conference 2019 |
| Date Published | June 2019 |
| Publisher | Association for Computing Machinery |
| Conference Location | Las Vegas, NV, USA |
| ISBN Number | 9781450367257 |
| Keywords | 2019: July, KU, Micro-architecture, Resilient Architectures, Side-channel attack, Side-Channel Attack Resistance, Spectre |
| Abstract | Speculative execution is an essential performance enhancing technique in modern processors, but it has been shown to be insecure. In this paper, we propose SpectreGuard, a novel defense mechanism against Spectre attacks. In our approach, sensitive memory blocks (e.g., secret keys) are marked using simple OS/library API, which are then selectively protected by hardware from Spectre attacks via low-cost micro-architecture extension. This technique allows microprocessors to maintain high performance, while restoring the control to software developers to make security and performance trade-offs. |
| URL | https://doi.org/10.1145/3316781.3317914 |
| DOI | 10.1145/3316781.3317914 |
| Citation Key | 10.1145/3316781.3317914 |