Tutorial: Efficient Cryptography on Reconfigurable Hardware

Venue: 2.021, Ashby Building, QUB.

Organizer: Ayesha Khalid (Queen’s University Belfast), Elif Bilge Kavun (University of Passau), Francesco Regazzoni (University of Amsterdam & ALaRI)

Abstract: Security is an intrinsic ingredient to a wide range of traditional application domains, (e.g., wireless transmission, multimedia, communication protocols), as well as many new application scenarios (e.g., IoT, smart homes, cars, healthcare). This list is ever increasing and creating new challenges in the context of efficient and robust implementations. Reconfiguration in a cryptographic accelerator is a critically important design dimension, since it serves dual purpose. Reconfigurability enables a common implementation supporting different cryptographic functions and varying security levels (as required by the application in hand). Reconfigurability also helps in continuous protection against evolving novel (cryptanalytic) attacks by adopting appropriate design changes. In this tutorial, we aim to present the latest trends in implementing cryptography efficiently on reconfigurable hardware. We will talk about the important and recent updates on post-quantum cryptography and lightweight cryptography on FPGAs as well as FPGA-specific physical attacks and countermeasures.