Attack IC Chip Memory

Non-invasive Attack IC Chip Memory operation often scale well, as the necessary facilities can usually be duplicated and updated at low cost.

The design process of most non-invasive mcu program extraction requires detailed knowledge of both the processor and software. On the other hand, invasive microprobing require very little initial knowledge and usually work with a similar set of techniques on a wide range of products. 

IC Chip attacking therefore often start with invasive reverse engineering microcontroller memory, the results of which then help to develop cheaper and faster non-invasive mcu breaking and can be used to learn the device functionality and test its security circuits.

As these attacking methods don’t require establishing any physical contact to the internal chip layers, expensive equipment such as laser cutters and FIB machines are not required. The IC chip attacker could succeed using a simple off-the-shelf microscope with a photoflash or laser pointer attached to it.

IC chip cracking can be reversible when the device can be put back into the initial state, or irreversible with permanent changes done to the device. For example, power analysis and microprobing could give the operator a result without harming the device itself.

Certainly microprobing will leave tamper evidence but usually that does not affect further original MCU operation. On the contrary, fault injection and UV light attacks could very likely put the device into the state where the internal registers or memory contents are changed and cannot be restored. In addition, UV attacking leave tamper evidence as they require direct access to the chip surface.