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From: mpd@netcom.com (Mike Duvos) Subject: Re: [NOISE] Cable-TV-Piracy-Punks Date: Sun, 31 Mar 1996 11:36:51 -0800 (PST)

We aren't talking about IC masks here. We are talking about electrostatic charges which would instantly leak away if the insulation around them were in the least bit compromised.

Actualy the data in a PROM is not electrostic, it is quite dynamic and the chip itself would undergo no permanent damage if removed from the original case and examined in the right environment (namely a good vacuum).

If you put something fragile inside a container which cannot be breached without exposing the fragile thing to a destructive environment, then the fragile thing is very unlikely to be retrieved intact.

Only if you are sloppy and/or don't understand the technology.

The specific parameters here will of course vary with what technology is available, but I think live EEPROM cells deep inside a multi-layer VLSI device are probably safe from scrutiny for the lifetime of your average smart card. Live registers too, for that matter.

Not. Not only woud SQUID technology be applicable but STM and MNR technologies would also be applicable to this type of hardware analysis. The chip is simply to big to prevent this type of analysis. Get it down to atomic scale (nanotech) and SQUIDs are about your only resource.