Re: Black box attacks (was Re: Crypto-Dongel)
On Wed, 9 Apr 1997, Jeremiah A Blatz wrote:
Dave Emery <die@pig.die.com> writes:
I have heard about thermite devices being used for this in the sort of applications that might warrent it. Granted that this is a royal fire hazard unless very carefully engineered, but at least it is not an explosive per se....
Thermite is probably overkill unless you're trying to dust something big like a hard drive. Just a bit of magnesium (which is often used as primer for thermite) should do the trick on a chip. I wonder if it's really essential to be so drastic, though? Would just getting the chip really hot be enough to wipe it? What about exposing it to a big arc? One might imagine a PCMCIA with a voltage doubling diode ladder and a small capacitor... would this be sufficient?
If you're trying to destroy a standard IC, why don't you just hook up the power and ground pins to a 120V AC outlet? No special equipment or substances required, just a couple of wires. Done it myself, and some chips make a really neat popping sound as the top blows off :-) Warning for the electronically challenged: don't use this method if you care about the rest of the board. Cynthia =============================================================== Cynthia H. Brown, P.Eng. E-mail: cynthb@iosphere.net | PGP Key: See Home Page Home Page: http://www.iosphere.net/~cynthb/ Junk mail will be ignored in the order in which it is received. Klein bottle for rent; enquire within.
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- "Cynthia H. Brown" <cynthb@sonetis.com> writes:
If you're trying to destroy a standard IC, why don't you just hook up the power and ground pins to a 120V AC outlet? No special equipment or substances required, just a couple of wires. Done it myself, and some chips make a really neat popping sound as the top blows off :-)
"Excuse me, Mr. Jack-booted Long Arm of The Law, do you mind putting your gun away whilst I just plug this evid^H^H^H^HPC Card into the wall? Thanks." Jer "standing on top of the world/ never knew how you never could/ never knew why you never could live/ innocent life that everyone did" -Wormhole -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQB1AwUBM0vL9ckz/YzIV3P5AQFs3gL9Gb2T14AbJCwadf1n35iqYcbkY6npZL+l 1oe6BjQGi7Gql8aWCazxGdDvAfo0Hxg1744odCSBuT4BgeLzYpblaI+hCSTk1mar H7AqYjuC58RcJog/da/FJnLSQU3RjXtf =uO3j -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
On Wed, 9 Apr 1997, Jeremiah A Blatz wrote:
"Cynthia H. Brown" <cynthb@sonetis.com> writes:
If you're trying to destroy a standard IC, why don't you just hook up the power and ground pins to a 120V AC outlet? No special equipment or substances required, just a couple of wires. Done it myself, and some chips make a really neat popping sound as the top blows off :-)
"Excuse me, Mr. Jack-booted Long Arm of The Law, do you mind putting your gun away whilst I just plug this evid^H^H^H^HPC Card into the wall? Thanks."
If Mr. Jack-Boots And Friends are standing behind you, it's too late anyways. You certainly won't have time to dig out the thermite / magnesium, place it on the appropriate chip, and ignite it. If you're going to the trouble of rigging up an emergency destructo-circuit, you might as well make sure you have something that fries the chip / PCMCIA card completely. Cynthia =============================================================== Cynthia H. Brown, P.Eng. E-mail: cynthb@iosphere.net | PGP Key: See Home Page Home Page: http://www.iosphere.net/~cynthb/ Junk mail will be ignored in the order in which it is received. Klein bottle for rent; enquire within.
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Cynthia H. Brown -
Jeremiah A Blatz