27 lines
2.5 KiB
TeX
27 lines
2.5 KiB
TeX
\chaptertitle{Conclusion}
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In this thesis, we proposed Inertial Hardware Security Modules (IHSMs), a completely new approach to physical security
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that combines conventional tamper-sensing meshes with physical movement to bootstrap a highly secure system from
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low-security, off-the-shelf parts. To motivate our research, we showed on the German national digital health record
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system how hardware security is hard to achieve in practice. Besides some minor cryptographic oddities, our analysis
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revealed at least one essential specification mistake that negates the hardware security of the system by unnecessarily
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introducing a poorly protected HSM. In the following chapters, we first introduced IHSM technology, then provided deep
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analyses of two of its engineering challenges, mesh monitoring and power transfer. We propose a low-cost TDR-based mesh
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monitoring system that exceeds the capabilities of all previous systems from academic or from patent literature by
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monitoring large meshes while simultaneously providing detailed results. Our TDR-based mesh monitoring system is of
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independent interest, since it can also be integrated into traditional HSM designs. Besides improved mesh monitoring, we
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also proposed a new, generalized design for high-frequency PCB inductors with low parasitic capacitance. Our design
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provides better bandwidth and lower parasitic capacitance compared to the state of the art without increasing
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implementation cost. We concluded our thesis with two chapters elaborating on two new use cases that are made possible
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by IHSM technology due to its ability to protect large payloads that have high power consumption.
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We believe that with the research presented in this thesis, we substantially advanced the physical security field. In
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particular, we belive that by publishing our research including its artifacts under open-source licenses, we provide the
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basis for future research in tamper-sensing technology, a field that remains under-served in today's academic landscape.
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Recent history has shown that state-level adversaries are a mounting threat to civil rights organizations, human rights
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lawyers, members of minorities, and many others. While western democracies used to be considered safe havens of human
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rights, today human rights are under attack both from within and from the outside in countries across the globe.
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Publishing IHSM technology as open source, we hope to provide one building block for new computing systems accessible to
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all that are resilient and secure in the face of growing adversity.
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