Unique Degradation of Flash Memory as an Identifier of ICT Device

The counterfeit and stolen information and communication technologies (ICT) devices are an essential and growing problem. Reliable technology for the identification of ICT devices is required to enable blocking of these devices in the network worldwide. Motivated by this challenge, we elaborate on the idea of using the unique degradation image of flash memory chip (DFMC) as the identifier of the device. This idea is based on the assumption that the distribution of degraded segments in the memory chip is unique enough to provide reliable identification of the device. In this paper, we provide a proof of concept through a hardware experiment. For this experiment, we developed a custom test bed and special software enabling the forced degradation of NOR-flash memory chips. We, then, consider the uniqueness of such identifiers using combination theory and consider practical issues of DFMC implementation, including the initial identification procedure, light dynamic identifiers, and identification using a cross-correlation function and options of dynamic identification. We conclude that using DFMC addresses relevant challenges of ICT devices identification. © 2013 IEEE.

Authors
Vladimirov S.S.1 , Pirmagomedov R. 2, 3 , Kirichek R. 1 , Koucheryavy A. 1
Journal
Publisher
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Language
English
Pages
107626-107634
Status
Published
Number
8786232
Volume
7
Year
2019
Organizations
  • 1 Department of Communication Networks, St. Petersburg State University of Telecommunications, St. Petersburg, 193232, Russian Federation
  • 2 Applied Mathematics Communications Technology Institute, Peoples Friendship University of Russia, RUDN University, Moscow, 117198, Russian Federation
  • 3 Electrical Engineering Unit, Tampere University, Tampere, FI-33720, Finland
Keywords
communication system security; counterfeiting; flash memory cells; Internet of things; network security; physical identification; system identification
Date of creation
24.12.2019
Date of change
24.12.2019
Short link
https://repository.rudn.ru/en/records/article/record/55439/
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