The combination will enable the detection and prevention of ‘analog interference’ cyber attacks that circumvent traditional security measures by tampering with underlying systems such as power supply levels or clock signals.
UltraSoC’s cybersecurity products are able to monitor the functional behaviour of digital circuitry, adding an extra layer of defence-in-depth to the security landscape, and detecting and mitigating cyber threats at hardware speed.
Agile Analog offers a parallel range of “smart” monitors in the analogue domain, such as voltage, temperature and timing sensors to detect side-channel attacks or anomalous behaviour that could indicate a cyber attack. The combination of system-level digital monitoring and analogue capabilities will enable a holistic approach to hardware-based cybersecurity.
These types of side-channel attacks can be used to gain access to a chip’s internal circuitry, which makes UltraSoC’s hardware based security a critical component in monitoring and defending against these attacks, where hackers may exploit side-channel vulnerabilities to launch a brute force attack.
Gajinder Panesar, CTO at UltraSoC, commented: “Agile Analog has some truly unique technology that’s invaluable in monitoring the underlying analogue behaviour of an SoC for potential signs of suspicious or unexpected activity. We believe that partnerships like this are key to enabling a holistic secure embedded cybersecurity architecture with monitoring capable of delivering from fab to field."
UltraSoC embeds transaction-aware hardware monitors into the digital infrastructure of an SoC. These are interconnected via a message-based architecture, allowing the implementation of sophisticated system-wide anomaly detection and mitigation measures.
The company’s Bus Sentinel and CAN Sentinel hardware modules, for example, can identify and instantaneously block suspicious communications within the chip.
The partnership with Agile Analog will integrate data from analogue monitors (such as clock, voltage and temperature monitors) into the UltraSoC cybersecurity infrastructure, enabling even more sophisticated anomaly detection schemes.
