| Title | Low-Temperature Attacks Against Digital Electronics: A Challenge for the Security of Superconducting Modules in High-Speed Magnetic Levitation (MagLev) Trains |
| Publication Type | Conference Paper |
| Year of Publication | 2021 |
| Authors | Anagnostopoulos, Nikolaos Athanasios, Fan, Yufan, Heinrich, Markus, Matyunin, Nikolay, Püllen, Dominik, Muth, Philipp, Hatzfeld, Christian, Rosenstihl, Markus, Arul, Tolga, Katzenbeisser, Stefan |
| Conference Name | 2021 IEEE 14th Workshop on Low Temperature Electronics (WOLTE) |
| Date Published | apr |
| Keywords | compositionality, cyber physical systems, digital electronics, high-speed train, internet of railway things, Internet of Things, low temperature, magnetic levitation, Magnetic levitation vehicles, Memory management, Memory modules, pubcrawl, remanence, Resiliency, security, Superconducting Magnet, superconducting magnets, Temperature dependence, Temperature distribution, temperature sensor, Temperature sensors |
| Abstract | This work examines volatile memory modules as ephemeral key storage for security applications in the context of low temperatures. In particular, we note that such memories exhibit a rising level of data remanence as the temperature decreases, especially for temperatures below 280 Kelvin. Therefore, these memories cannot be used to protect the superconducting modules found in high-speed Magnetic Levitation (MagLev) trains, as such modules most often require extremely low temperatures in order to provide superconducting applications. Thus, a novel secure storage solution is required in this case, especially within the oncoming framework concept of the internet of railway things, which is partially based on the increasing utilisation of commercial off-the-shelf components and potential economies of scale, in order to achieve cost efficiency and, thus, widespread adoption. Nevertheless, we do note that volatile memory modules can be utilised as intrinsic temperature sensors, especially at low temperatures, as the data remanence they exhibit at low temperatures is highly dependent on the ambient temperature, and can, therefore, be used to distinguish between different temperature levels. |
| DOI | 10.1109/WOLTE49037.2021.9555437 |
| Citation Key | anagnostopoulos_low-temperature_2021 |
Low-Temperature Attacks Against Digital Electronics: A Challenge for the Security of Superconducting Modules in High-Speed Magnetic Levitation (MagLev) Trains