On the Influence of the FPGA Compiler Optimization Options on the Success of the Horizontal Attack

TL;DR

This study investigates how FPGA compiler optimization options influence the security of cryptographic implementations against side channel attacks, revealing unpredictable effects across different FPGA types and configurations.

Contribution

It systematically evaluates the impact of specific compiler options on FPGA security, highlighting their unpredictable influence on attack success.

Findings

Compiler options affect attack resistance.

Impact varies across FPGA models.

Unpredictable effects within the same FPGA.

Abstract

This paper reports about the impact of compiler options on the resistance of cryptographic implementations against side channel analysis attacks. We evaluated four compiler option for six different FPGAs from Intel and Xilinx. In order to ensure fair assessment we synthesized always the same VHDL code, kept the measurement setup and statistical analysis method etc. constant. Our analysis clearly shows that the compiler options have an impact on the success of attacks but also that the impact is unpredictable not only between different FPGAs but also for an individual FPGA.