Spin-Orbit Coupling in Hardware-Based Data Obfuscation for Tamper-Proof Cyber Data Vaults

Abstract

The increasing sophistication of cyberattacks has shown the limits to software-only based security measures and has led to the need for hardware-anchored mechanisms to protect sensitive data. Spin-orbit coupling (SOC) is a quantum mechanical interaction of the electron spin with the orbital motion, and is a very unique physical basis for obfuscating data in secure storage systems. By mixing SOC materials into computing substrates, hardware could have intrinsic randomness, non-deterministic state transitions and also resistance to invasive probing, all needed for tamper-proof cyber data vaults. This approach is supportive of physical layer obfuscation, and therefore compliments or exceeds the traditional cryptographic techniques. Moreover, the SOC-driven architectures support the improvement of physical unclonable functions (PUFs), are able to offer adaptive intrusion detections and creation of an additional barrier against reverse engineering. Despite its challenges on fabrication, scalability and material integration, SOC-based obfuscation is a promising direction of hardware security that can potentially change the standards of data confidentiality and integrity in critical applications such as finance, defense and healthcare.