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This Agile Analog blog post focuses on clock attacks and how clock attack monitors can help detect them. As system-on-chip (SoC) security threats grow even more sophisticated, attackers are increasingly targeting the clock system to manipulate execution timing and generate faults. By physically altering the clock signals, they can compromise cryptographic operations, bypass security mechanisms, or force a system change. Four primary techniques are used in physical clock attacks: clock glitching, frequency changing, single stepping, and duty cycle manipulation. The aim is to disrupt the normal operation of an electronics system by introducing malfunctions in order to exploit vulnerabilities or extract sensitive information.

The challenges with clock attacks

Software-based attacks are well documented, with established detection and countermeasures. However, hardware-level attacks, such as clock manipulation, remain more challenging to identify. There may be no immediately obvious indications of tampering so the impact might only become apparent after an extended period of time. Clock attacks specifically target low-level hardware components such as microcontrollers, cryptographic chips and processors. These often lack the same degree of monitoring and protection as higher-level software, making them more vulnerable to manipulation.

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