A Smart Sensor for Defending against Clock Glitching Attacks on the I2C Protocol in Robotic Applications.

Area of Science:

• Computer Engineering
• Hardware Security
• Robotics

Background:

• Clock signal manipulation poses a significant threat to the integrity of communication protocols.
• The Inter-Integrated Circuit (I2C) protocol is widely used but susceptible to specific hardware attacks.
• Understanding these vulnerabilities is critical for developing secure embedded systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate a specific hardware attack targeting the clock signal within the I2C protocol.
• To design and propose a novel sensor for detecting and mitigating clock signal perturbations.
• To validate the effectiveness of the proposed defense mechanism through experimental analysis.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of clock signal vulnerability in the I2C protocol.
• Design and implementation of a custom sensor for attack detection.
• Utilization of a configurable experimental platform emulating a differential drive robot for validation.
• Experimental testing to assess attack impact and defense efficacy.

Main Results:

• Confirmed the existence and impact of clock signal attacks on I2C communication.
• Demonstrated the successful detection of clock signal perturbations by the proposed sensor.
• Validated the sensor's effectiveness in defending against the targeted hardware attacks.
• Experimental results highlight the practical relevance of the identified vulnerabilities.

Conclusions:

• The study successfully identified and characterized a clock signal vulnerability in the I2C protocol.
• The developed sensor provides an effective defense against this specific type of hardware attack.
• The findings contribute to enhancing the security of systems employing the I2C protocol, particularly in robotic applications.