Laser Ultrasonics for hardware Cybersecurity Analysis

Cybersecurity is mostly perceived as a software issue. However, security breaches also occur on a hardware level where physical probing of the devices of interest is used to extract critical information for reverse engineering and state-dependent readout or manipulate the output. There is a general race between attack methods and defence measures where the development of new techniques for the non-destructive characterization of complex and micro-nanoscaled devices needs to be considered for future developments. In LUCA we study the interaction of laser-induced high frequency ultrasound in the Gigahertz range with functional electronic devices and their elementary constituents e.g. transistors. One focus lies on an improved fundamental understanding on the physical mechanisms involved in the generation, propagation and detection of elastic waves in such devices. Building on these findings, the possibility to probe devices with state-of-the-art security measures will be studied with the goal to provide improved shielding designs against ultrasound-based hardware attacks. The physical probing explores structural as well as electronic properties Experts from hardware cyber security and laser ultrasound will work jointly together in this cooperative project between Austria and France.