Research | Hardware Assisted and Blockchain Empowered Security Lab

1. Mission and Research Interests

The Laboratory's research activities are essentially focused on the study of security solutions that use hardware elements or that create services based on DLT and Blockchain technologies. In the context of IoT systems, physical bus sniffing, cold boot, cache side channel, buffer overflow, code-reuse, or Iago can be implemented, and various countermeasures based on software solutions have been proposed. However, the severity and complexity of these attacks require a level of security that only hardware support can provide. In recent years, various academic and industrial research activities have dealt with how to create advanced IoT security solutions thanks to the use of hardware elements, such as Physical Unclonable Function, or PUF, for the generation of pseudorandom material to support cryptographic schemes and /or authentication, or the creation of ciphers thanks to the use of FPA and ASICS technology, specifying them by means of formalisms such as VHDL. Furthermore, secure execution and/or secure data storage solutions require hardware support for the creation of a Trusted Execution Environment. Furthermore, recently there has been a growing success of DLT and blockchain solutions. Blockchain technology produces a data structure with intrinsic security qualities, which is based on principles of cryptography, decentralization and consensus, which guarantee the reliability of transactions. Furthermore, the programmability of these platforms offered by smart contracts has allowed the creation of new solutions that have led to the advent of Web 3.0 and decentralized applications. These solutions have allowed the design and creation of new security services, such as Self Sovereignty Identity, for the decentralization of digital identity management, asset tokenization, which means digitizing tangible and intangible assets and converting them into tokens, which are then archived on the blockchain. Once the asset is tokenized and stored on the blockchain, it becomes secure, immutable, and easy to trade, either fully or partially. Blockchain-based asset tokenization certainly has many advantages; However, it is important to note that tokenization is not without its challenges and risks, such as lack of security and regulations. Aspects that are currently under investigation.

For each of the aforementioned research themes/sectors the laboratory pursues theoretical, methodological and technological objectives. In particular, the theoretical objectives materialize in the definition of models, algorithms and architectures to support the problems inherent to the sectors listed above, while the methodological objectives are oriented towards the definition of organizational and structural paradigms on which to base the study and treatment of typical processes of these sectors. The definition of the theoretical models and paradigms mentioned above is constantly accompanied by technological research relating to the hardware and software tools to support these processes and their prototypical creation.

In detail, the main research activities of the laboratory concern:

• Hardware-assisted Security Solutions;
• PUF-based Crypto Solutions;
• TEE-based Protection means and protocols;
• PUF and Cryptography in Quantum Computing
• Blochchain and Smart Contracts
• Blockchain-empowered Security
• Decentralised Data Management
• Asset Tokenization and its protection/regulation
• Legal and Ethical aspects of Blockchain and IoT Security.

2. Reference ISI WEB of Science Categories

• Computer Science, Hardware & Architecture;
• Computer Science, Information Systems;
• Computer Science, Interdisciplinary Applications;
• Computer Science, Theory & Methods;
• Automation & Control Systems;
• Engineering, Electrical & Electronic;

3. Reference ERC Categories

• PE1_16 Mathematical aspects of computer science;
• PE1_18 Scientific computing and data processing;
• PE1_20 Application of mathematics in sciences;
• PE1_21 Application of mathematics in industry and society;
• PE6_1 Computer architecture, pervasive computing, ubiquitous computing;
• PE6_2 Computer systems, parallel/distributed systems, sensor networks, embedded systems, cyber-physical systems;
• PE6_5 Cryptology, security, privacy, quantum cryptography;
• PE6_6 Algorithms, distributed, parallel and network algorithms, algorithmic game theory
• PE6_7 Artificial intelligence, intelligent systems, multi agent systems;
• PE6_11 Machine learning, statistical data processing and applications using signal processing (e.g., speech, image, video);
• PE6_12 Scientific computing, simulation and modelling tools;
• PE7_1 Control engineering;
• PE7_2 Electrical engineering: power components and/or systems;
• PE7_3 Simulation engineering and modelling;
• PE7_6 Communication technology, high-frequency technology;
• PE7_7 Signal processing;
• PE7_8 Networks (communication networks, sensor networks, networks of robots, etc.).

4. Scientific-Disciplinary Sectors of Reference

• INF/01 (COMPUTER SCIENCE);
• ING-INF/05 (INFORMATION PROCESSING SYSTEMS);

5. Teaching Activities

The laboratory, in addition to carrying out research activities, is mainly used by thesis students coming from the Bachelor's and Master's Degree courses in Computer Science, engaged in the development of models and applications that fall within the different research areas addressed by the laboratory itself, including such as Computer Networks, IoT Security, Data Security, Cybersecurity and Penetration testing.

6. Equipment supplied by the Laboratory

• Libeljum Smart city kit, 4 waspmote v1.5, 4 nb-iot module for waspmote
• Nexus A7 della Diligent
• TB3 WAFFLE PI4 2 Robotis TurtleBot3 Waffle PI
• 6 arduino uno wifi, 3 arduino uno rev 3
• 2 stm32, e 37 in 1 kit stm32
• 1 attify badge con pinze, 1 jtagulator e 1 openwrt node
• 2 hardware wallet (ledger nano)
• 1 flip and click, 1 ble 12 click, 1 ecg gsr click, 1 crypto trust m click
• 1 adafruit nrf582
• Sparkfun Cryptographic Development: 3 sparkfun red board, 3 sparkfun cryptoprocessor 1 sparkfun led, 1 environmental combo sparkfun
• 4 raspberry pi4
• Hw and Sw for blockchain Development
• PRECISION 7960 TOWER WORKSTATION INTEL® XEON® W9-3495X (105 MB DI MEMORIA CACHE, 56 CORE, 112 THREAD, DA 1,9 GHZ A 4,8 GHZ TURBO, 350 W).

7 . Website

• habes.cs.unisa.it

8. Contacts

• E-mail: habes@cs.unisa.it
• Phone: +39089969306