2018 Rationalist.org — Evolution Tree content
A research team at Washington State University has discovered significant security vulnerabilities in high-performance computer chips that could cause malfunctions in modern electronics. The researchers found that these vulnerabilities could damage on-chip communication systems and shorten the lifespan of computers through intentionally malicious workloads.
The company, led by Partha Pande, an academic at the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, presented its work during the 2018 IEEE/ACM International Networks on Chip Symposium.
Researchers are working to understand system vulnerabilities in chips to prevent harmful attacks that can occur in the electronics that make up our daily lives. Some consumer electronics providers, such as Apple and Samsung, have been accused of deliberately releasing slower updates to older models to exploit security vulnerabilities in their electronic devices and encourage consumers to buy new products.
Previous researchers have focused on computer chip components such as processors, computer memory, and security circuits.
Pande said, “ The communication system is the glue that holds everything together . When it starts to malfunction, the whole system will collapse. ”
High-performance computers use numerous processors and perform parallel processing for big data applications and cloud computing, and the communication system organizes processors and memory. Researchers are working to increase the number of processors and incorporate high-performance capabilities into handheld devices as well.
Simultaneously, three “carefully crafted malicious” attacks were created to test the communication system . This additional workload increased concerns about electromotor-related stress and interference. The researchers highlighted that the communication system’s limited number of key vertical links are vulnerable and could fail. These links integrate processors into a stack and allow them to interact with each other.
Pande stated, “ We determined how an agent could target the communication system to induce a malfunction in the chip. The role of communication and the threat was not previously clear to researchers .”
Now, efforts are being made to develop ways to mitigate the problem, such as automated techniques and algorithms to detect and block attacks.
This study was part of projects funded by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Army Research Office. The WSU team is collaborating with researchers from New York University and Duke University.
Translation: Ayşe Ege Palaz
• ScienceDaily, “Computer chip vulnerabilities discovered” < https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/12/181213155617.htm >
Originally published on Medium on April 24, 2023. English translation of “Bilgisayar çipleri güvenli değil mi?”.