METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR HIDING CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEYS UTILIZING AUTOCORRELATION TIMING ENCODING AND COMPUTATION

摘要

A method and apparatus for hiding cryptographic keys based on autocorrelation timing attacks is provided. The method and apparatus of the present invention utilize an autocorrelation timing attack to allow independent software entities to authenticate themselves without storing a private cryptographic key. This is accomplished by storing timing statistics (320, 325, 330) related to the evaluation of an equation in the software entity rather than the cryptographic key itself. When the software entity authenticates itself, the cryptographic key is derived based on information provided by the timing statistics contained in the software entity.