Using Embedded Temperature Sensors to Detect Package Tampering

Secure integrated circuits are vulnerable to numerous threats and attacks throughout their lifespan. A noticeable group of these threats is semi-invasive attacks that necessitate removing the package, either from the front or the back. To the best of our knowledge, there has been little research foc...

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Main Authors: Geoffrey Chancel, Julien Toulemont, Frederick Mailly, Philippe Maurine, Pascal Nouet
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-07-01
Series:Sensors
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/25/14/4250
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author Geoffrey Chancel
Julien Toulemont
Frederick Mailly
Philippe Maurine
Pascal Nouet
author_facet Geoffrey Chancel
Julien Toulemont
Frederick Mailly
Philippe Maurine
Pascal Nouet
author_sort Geoffrey Chancel
collection DOAJ
description Secure integrated circuits are vulnerable to numerous threats and attacks throughout their lifespan. A noticeable group of these threats is semi-invasive attacks that necessitate removing the package, either from the front or the back. To the best of our knowledge, there has been little research focusing on verifying the package integrity. This paper presents an affordable solution for verifying the package integrity at power-up. This solution relies on an indirect and built-in measurement of the IC’s heat dissipation characteristics, taking advantage of the use of thermal sensors embedded in today’s ICs.
format Article
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institution Kabale University
issn 1424-8220
language English
publishDate 2025-07-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Sensors
spelling doaj-art-b1d1d0d09bb245e18063ce6d678b09902025-08-20T03:56:46ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202025-07-012514425010.3390/s25144250Using Embedded Temperature Sensors to Detect Package TamperingGeoffrey Chancel0Julien Toulemont1Frederick Mailly2Philippe Maurine3Pascal Nouet4LIRMM, University of Montpellier, 34095 Montpellier, FranceANSSI, 75700 Paris, FranceLIRMM, University of Montpellier, 34095 Montpellier, FranceLIRMM, University of Montpellier, 34095 Montpellier, FranceLIRMM, University of Montpellier, 34095 Montpellier, FranceSecure integrated circuits are vulnerable to numerous threats and attacks throughout their lifespan. A noticeable group of these threats is semi-invasive attacks that necessitate removing the package, either from the front or the back. To the best of our knowledge, there has been little research focusing on verifying the package integrity. This paper presents an affordable solution for verifying the package integrity at power-up. This solution relies on an indirect and built-in measurement of the IC’s heat dissipation characteristics, taking advantage of the use of thermal sensors embedded in today’s ICs.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/25/14/4250countermeasuresthermal dissipation monitoringhardware securityfault injectionreverse engineering
spellingShingle Geoffrey Chancel
Julien Toulemont
Frederick Mailly
Philippe Maurine
Pascal Nouet
Using Embedded Temperature Sensors to Detect Package Tampering
Sensors
countermeasures
thermal dissipation monitoring
hardware security
fault injection
reverse engineering
title Using Embedded Temperature Sensors to Detect Package Tampering
title_full Using Embedded Temperature Sensors to Detect Package Tampering
title_fullStr Using Embedded Temperature Sensors to Detect Package Tampering
title_full_unstemmed Using Embedded Temperature Sensors to Detect Package Tampering
title_short Using Embedded Temperature Sensors to Detect Package Tampering
title_sort using embedded temperature sensors to detect package tampering
topic countermeasures
thermal dissipation monitoring
hardware security
fault injection
reverse engineering
url https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/25/14/4250
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AT philippemaurine usingembeddedtemperaturesensorstodetectpackagetampering
AT pascalnouet usingembeddedtemperaturesensorstodetectpackagetampering