The CESTI laboratory in Grenoble is responsible for the safety evaluation of products (commercial or prototype).
or prototypes). A wide range of tests can be carried out as part of these evaluations, including those designed to
observe the target's behavior when faults are injected into integrated circuits. Fault injection
consists of perturbing the system by various means in order to obtain different behaviours than those
and thus potentially bypass security countermeasures.
CESTI is constantly on the lookout for new avenues of attack, including X-ray attacks, for which CESTI has developed a number of new techniques.
attacks, for which CESTI has been a forerunner. The laboratory has successfully demonstrated the possibility
of X-ray attacks by modifying memory cells or single transistors with a nano-focused
beam.
In order to make further progress on realistic attacks and develop them on the latest-generation
generation components, this thesis will explore the intrinsic limits, potential applications and physical effects
associated with these ionizing radiation disturbances.
The thesis will include an experimental paassociated with these ionizing radiation disturbances.
The thesis will include an experimental part, using the ESRF beam or reducing the power of the
of the attacker using a laboratory X-ray generator, to attack various types of components, and it will also
also include a more theoretical part with simulation to understand the physical effects, in collaboration with
effects in collaboration with ONERA, and an a analysis of possible new attack paths with these X-ray beams.
beams.
The aim of the thesis will be to obtain a real attack on recent components, reducing the attacker's power to a minimum, and to identify as exhaustively as possible the threat that could be posed by the X-ray beams.
power of the attacker, as well as to define as exhaustively as possible the potential threat
ionizing beam attacks. An opening to other fields such as failure analysis, hardening of
hardening of circuits for space applications.