PCIe device security-The evolution of DMA attacks | Maggie & Cuauhtemoc | hardwear.io webinars 2021

Abstract:
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Going strong on its fifth revision, the PCIe protocol has passed the test of time as one of the most commonly used protocols. PCIe devices can be found on a wide variety of platforms across industry sectors, from small IOT devices to massive super computers, that take advantage of the speed and versatility the protocol provides. DMA (Direct Memory Access), one of PCIe's most powerful features, also happens to bring some of the most interesting and significant security concerns, which is to be expected from a capabilities that allow users to access memory directly without explicit OS awareness. Interestingly, as capabilities built to provide solutions for these concerns have increased over the years, so has the attack surface. This talk hopes to provide a general overview of the current landscape of PCIe DMA attacks, insights regarding its historic evolution, as well as advice on best practices and solutions available to avoid potential attacks through what could be considered an often overlooked attack vector.

Speaker Bio:
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Maggie Jauregui (@_m46s) is a firmware and hardware FPGA offensive security researcher for Intel's Programmable Solutions Group with over 10 years of experience focused mainly on low level platform security. Maggie is part of Black Hat's review board and President of BSides Portland, the non-profit organization that puts together BSidesPDX. Throughout her career, Maggie has presented her research and delivered technical training on firmware and physical attack security topics at conferences around the world including DEFCON, Black Hat, CanSecWest, and DerbyCon among others.

Cuauhtemoc Chavez Corona is a security researcher for the Quality Security and Sustainability (QSS) team within Intel’s Datacenter Platform Group (DPG). Cuau has 9 years of experience in the field of server platform security. His expertise includes SoC architecture, cryptography, and low level firmware. Cuau enjoys finding vulnerabilities on x86 server platforms across hardware, firmware, and software components. Some of Cuau’s specific areas of focus include Secure Boot, Trusted Execution Technologies, Side Channel Attacks, virtualization, and DMA based attacks.

#hardwaresecurity #Cryptography #firmware #PCIe #Intel