Modern processors have been aggressively optimized for performance and energy efficiency. However, recent attacks, such as high-profile Spectre and Meltdown attacks, have shown how vulnerable modern computer hardware is. This projects will explore various side channel vulnerabilities in modern processors. We will study potential security problems in those micro-architecture structures, which have not been fully understood by the community, such as buffers and directories in the memory hierarchy and network-on-chip. Our work will involve reverse engineering commercial processors, developing end-to-end attacks, and breaking cryptographic security of modern applications.

I am participating in this SuperUROP to gain research experience in regards to computer security at the hardware and microarchitectural level. I really enjoyed taking 6.858 (Computer Systems Security) last semester and was fascinated with these newer attack vectors against modern processors. I also had previous experience in the field of computer security research so I am well suited for this project.