Sign Change Fault Attacks On Elliptic Curve Cryptosystems

Johannes Blömer; Martin Otto; Jean-Pierre Seifert

Paper 2004/227

Sign Change Fault Attacks On Elliptic Curve Cryptosystems

Johannes Blömer, Martin Otto, and Jean-Pierre Seifert

Abstract

We present a new type of fault attacks on elliptic curve scalar multiplications: Sign Change Attacks. These attacks exploit different number representations as they are often employed in modern cryptographic applications. Previously, fault attacks on elliptic curves aimed to force a device to output points which are on a cryptographically weak curve. Such attacks can easily be defended against. Our attack produces points which do not leave the curve and are not easily detected. The paper also presents a revised scalar multiplication algorithm that provably protects against Sign Change Attacks.

Metadata

Available format(s): PDF PS
Category: Public-key cryptography
Publication info: Published elsewhere. Unknown where it was published
Keywords: elliptic curve cryptosystem fault attacks smart cards
Contact author(s): martinmo @ upb de
History: 2004-09-11: revised; 2004-09-09: received; See all versions
Short URL: https://ia.cr/2004/227
License: CC BY

BibTeX

@misc{cryptoeprint:2004/227,
      author = {Johannes Blömer and Martin Otto and Jean-Pierre Seifert},
      title = {Sign Change Fault Attacks On Elliptic Curve Cryptosystems},
      howpublished = {Cryptology ePrint Archive, Paper 2004/227},
      year = {2004},
      note = {\url{https://eprint.iacr.org/2004/227}},
      url = {https://eprint.iacr.org/2004/227}
}