New Results for Timing Based Attestation

Abstract

In this paper we present a comprehensive timing based attestation system suitable for typical enterprise use, and evidence of that systems performance. This system, similar to Pioneer [20] but built with relaxed assumptions, successfully detects attacks on code integrity over 10 links of an enterprise network, despite an average of just 1.7% time overhead for the attacker. We also present the first implementation and evaluation of a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) hardware timing-based attestation protocol. We describe the design and results of a set of experiments showing the effectiveness of our timing-based system, thereby providing further evidence of the practicality of timing-based attestation in real-world settings. While system measurement itself is a worthwhile goal, and timing-based attestation systems can provide measurements that are equally as trustworthy as hardware-based attestation systems, we feel that Time Of Check, Time Of Use (TOCTOU)attacks have not received appropriate attention in the literature. To address this topic, we present the three conditions required to execute such an attack, and how past attacks and defenses relate to these conditions.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2012
Accession Number
AD1108509

Entities

People

  • Amy Herzog
  • Chris Weathers
  • Corey Kallenberg
  • John Butterworth
  • Matthew Albin
  • Xeno Kovah

Organizations

  • MITRE Corporation

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Cyber

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Accumulators
  • Authentication
  • Computational Science
  • Computer Programming
  • Computer Programs
  • Computer Security Software
  • Computers
  • Cyber-Physical Systems
  • Data Set
  • Detection
  • Detectors
  • Digital Data
  • Embedded Systems
  • Experimental Data
  • Microarchitecture
  • Mobile Phones
  • Network Topology
  • Networks
  • Operating Systems
  • Standards
  • Throughput
  • Verification

Fields of Study

  • Computer science

Readers

  • Applied Combinatorial Optimization and Logic Circuit Design.
  • Cybersecurity.
  • Systems Analysis and Design