A-SOFT-AES: Self-adaptive software-implemented fault-tolerance for AES

The Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) is one of the most widespread encryption techniques used by millions of users worldwide. Although AES was designed to withstand linear or differential attacks, the security of encrypted messages is not guaranteed. Bit flips occurring during the encryption due to runtime failures or purposely invoked by an attacker are a major security concern and can significantly jeopardize integrity, privacy, and confidentiality and hence the security of the system. Therefore, techniques to increase the reliability (fault-tolerance) and with it the security of cryptographic systems are necessary. This work proposes a self-adaptive software-implemented fault-tolerance methodology for AES (A-SOFT-AES) to enhance its fault-tolerance. This technique is based on a pool of software-implemented fault-tolerance techniques out of which it dynamically chooses the best one in terms of performance, cost, and fault-tolerance for a wide range of fault rates. Therefore, it provides superior flexibility over classic hardware-based implementations.