Memory Offloading for Remote Attestation of Multi-Service IoT Devices

Area of Science:

• Computer Science
• Cybersecurity
• Embedded Systems

Background:

• Remote attestation (RA) is crucial for detecting malware on remote devices.
• Current Control-Flow Attestation (CFA) protocols leave critical memory regions unattested, posing security risks.
• Multi-service devices with external peripherals are particularly vulnerable to memory-based attacks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To extend state-of-the-art RA schemes by attesting larger memory regions.
• To address vulnerabilities in unattested memory regions, especially in multi-service and peripheral devices.
• To introduce a novel protocol, ERAMO, utilizing memory offloading for enhanced attestation.

Main Methods:

• Developed and presented the ERAMO protocol, incorporating a memory offloading approach.
• Implemented a hardware proof-of-concept using a TrustZone-capable LPC55S69 microcontroller.
• Integrated two sensor nodes to simulate a multi-service device environment.

Main Results:

• ERAMO successfully attests larger memory regions, including dynamic memory.
• The protocol demonstrated feasibility and effectiveness in analyzing and attesting the memory of attached peripherals.
• Hardware validation confirmed ERAMO's capability to enhance security for multi-service devices.

Conclusions:

• ERAMO significantly improves remote attestation by covering previously unattested memory areas.
• The memory offloading approach is effective for enhancing the security of complex, multi-service devices.
• The findings pave the way for more robust and comprehensive device integrity verification.