How deeply does Real-World Cryptography cover semi-invasive attack?

Defines surface access and gives a fault-analysis example, but stops short of explaining attack equipment or procedures.

Semi-invasive attack

As explained in Real-World Cryptography

A semi-invasive attack accesses a chip's surface without fully damaging it in order to alter or observe computation.

Imagine a smart card that still looks intact but is being heated or illuminated to make its program misbehave. A semi-invasive attack reaches the chip’s surface without fully damaging the device, then uses that access to alter or observe computation. section 13.2.2

Semi-invasive attacks sit between two other physical attack classes:

Non-invasive attacks observe the device without affecting it, such as measuring power consumption during cryptographic operations. section 13.2.2
Semi-invasive attacks use non-damaging surface access to influence execution and leak secrets. section 13.2.2
Invasive attacks open the chip and probe or modify circuitry, risking visible damage or an unusable device. section 13.2.2

Differential fault analysis

An attacker uses heat, lasers, or similar techniques to modify a smart card program while it runs. The resulting faults can help leak cryptographic keys. section 13.2.2

How Real-World Cryptography covers it

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Related concepts

differential fault analysisincludes · Differential fault analysis is a technique that induces computational faults and analyzes their effects to recover secret information.
invasive attackcontrasts with · An invasive attack physically opens a chip and probes or modifies its internal circuitry to reveal or alter secrets.

This explainer was generated by Manning's knowledge graph from the text of Real-World Cryptography. The section links point to the parts of the book it draws on.