Optimization Technique for Deep Learning Methodology on
Power Side Channel Attacks
Amjed Abbas Ahmed
Center for Cyber Security
Faculty of Information Science and
Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan
Malaysia (UKM)
Bangi, 43600, Malaysia
Department of Computer Techniques
Engineering, Imam Al-Kadhum
College (IKC)
Baghdad 10011, Iraq
amjedabbas@alkadhum-col.edu.iq
Azana Hafizah Aman
Center for Cyber Security
Faculty of Information Science and
Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan
Malaysia (UKM)
Bangi, 43600, Malaysia
azana@ukm.edu.my
Mohammad Kamrul Hasan
Center for Cyber Security
Faculty of Information Science and
Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan
Malaysia (UKM)
Bangi, 43600, Malaysia
mkhasan@ukm.edu.my
Shayla Islam
Institute of Computer Science and
Digital Innovation
UCSI University
Kuala Lumpur 56000, Malaysia
shayla@ucsiuniversity.edu.my
Nazmus Shaker Nafi
GS-APAC, Kellogg Brown and Root,
Southbank, Melbourne, Australia
nazmus.nafi@kbr.com
Mohammad Siab Nahi
Department of Computer Techniques
Engineering, Imam Al-Kadhum
College (IKC)
Baghdad 10011, Iraq
mohammed.saib@alkadhum-col.edu.iq
Abstract— The first non-profiled side-channel attack (SCA)
method using deep learning is Timon's Differential Deep
Learning Analysis (DDLA). This method is effective in
retrieving the secret key with the help of deep learning metrics.
The Neural Network (NN) has to be trained numerous times
since the proposed approach increases the learning cost with the
key sizes, making it hard to assess the results from the
intermediate stage. In this research, we provide three possible
answers to the issues raised above, along with any challenges
that could result from trying to solve these issues. We will start
by offering an updated algorithm that has been modified to be
able to keep track of the metrics during the intermediary stage.
Next, we provide a parallel NN structure and training technique
for a single network. This saves a lot of time by eliminating the
need to repeatedly retrain the same model. The newly designed
algorithm significantly sped up attacks when compared to the
previous one. Thus, we propose employing shared layers to
overcome memory challenges in parallel structure and improve
performance. We evaluated our approaches by presenting non-
profiled attacks on ASCAD dataset and a ChipWhisperer-Lite
power usage dataset. Power utilisation was studied using both
datasets. The shared layers strategy we created was up to 134
times more successful than the prior technique when used to the
ASCAD database.
Index Terms— Optimization Technique, Deep Learning
Methodology, Side Channel Attacks, CNN and Power Analysis.
I. INTRODUCTION
Cryptographic methods [1] in hardware protect against
mathematical cryptanalysis and physical attacks because
attackers can access physical equipment. This offers
protection from both categories of dangers. Side-channel
attacks are physical attacks that use information leaked from
cryptographic hardware to render a security system
ineffective [2]. Information about runtime, noise,
temperature, power use, and EM radiation are just a few
examples. Side-channel attacks on real-world products like
phones and transit cards are becoming more common and
effective.
This paper has been supported by the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
(UKM), Under grant scheme, DIP-2022-021.
Profiled and non-profiled attacks [3], [4] are two types of
side-channel attacks that can be distinguished based on the
environment in which an attacker works. A case of SCA is a
profiled attack, such as the Template Attack [5] or the
Stochastic attack [6]. It involves using a fixed secret key and
a profiling device that is structurally similar to the device that
will be the target of the attack. Attackers will utilise profiling
tools to profile the target device's leakage first, and then they
will use the knowledge they have gained to analyse the target
device. A non-profiled attack, on the other hand, is a kind of
side-channel attack that takes place in a setting without any
profiling devices. In order to evaluate secret keys, attackers
will use statistical methods in conjunction with the
measurements they have collected from the target device [7].
The secret key must be recalculated from scratch for these
attacks to succeed, utilising just the side-channel data
gathered from the compromised devices and none of the
previously established templates. Differential Power
Analysis [8] and Correlation Power Analysis [9] are two
examples of attacks that do not rely on profiles [10].
II. LITERATURE REVIEW
The first kind of DL-SCAs to be utilised in non-profiled
attacks, or circumstances when an attacker is unable to get a
template device, is differential deep learning analysis, also
known as DDLA [11]. It becomes challenging to use the deep
learning-based profiling side-channel attacks that were
covered in the previous part since it is impossible to gather
the label for side-channel measurements in the absence of a
template device. However, since the DDLA provides a
method for estimating labels, it is able to get around these
limitations. The intermediate values that are most closely
related to the measurements are those that are calculated with
the right key in a correlation power analysis, a version of the
usual SCA. The same is true in deep learning research, where
a single network trained with the proper label outperforms all
those trained with the wrong labels. Different metrics are
used to quantify deep learning's effectiveness, but the
2023 33rd International Telecommunication Networks and Applications Conference (ITNAC)
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2023 33rd International Telecommunication Networks and Applications Conference (ITNAC) | 979-8-3503-1713-8/23/$31.00 ©2023 IEEE | DOI: 10.1109/ITNAC59571.2023.10368481
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