Devices with on-board physically unclonable functions

US11423391B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Block, Inc. · US

Inventors

• Jeremy Wade · San Francisco, US
• William Hardy · Pleasanton, US
• Malcolm Smith · Toronto, CA
• Afshin Rezayee · King City, CA
• Yue Yang · Chengdu, CN

Key dates

• Filing date: Oct 4, 2019
• Grant date: Aug 23, 2022
• Expiry date: Jun 22, 2040

Classification

• Technology area (CPC H): Electricity
• CPC primary: H04L2209/805
• WIPO field: IT methods for management
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

An electronic device may include circuitry and an anti-tamper device having a physical characteristic that changes in response to a tamper attempt. The circuitry is configured to determine physically unclonable function (PUF) data based on the physical characteristic and to perform at least one secure operation based on the PUF data. The circuitry is further configured to detect the tamper attempt based a change to the physical characteristic and to perform at least one action in response to detection of the tamper attempt for protecting the electronic device from the tamper attempt.