KR20180130655A - Hardware-based security device and method that enables permanent data erase and reuse of storatge in flash memory - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a hardware-based security device for enabling the physical, hardware-based, and permanent deletion and reuse of data stored in a flash memory, and to a method thereof. The hardware-based security device includes: a heat-resistant container capable of storing memory chips; and a heating device which provides energy to the memory chips stored in the heat-resistant container and raises the temperature of the memory chips within the range of 200°C-300°C. Microwaves are absorbed into the flash memory chips to delete the data stored in the flash memory cells in the physical, hardware-based, and permanent manner while reducing the deletion time to be shorter than that of a conventional overwriting scheme while maintaining the deletion time regardless of the capacity of the flash memory. The microwaves can be used to process a large number of the chips and enable their reuse after processing, thereby enhancing the productivity and cost efficiency compared to conventional schemes. The present invention can enhance the hardware security of the flash memory while realizing an enhanced information security scheme.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to a hardware-based security device and method for enabling permanent erasure of data in a flash memory and reuse of a storage device,

The present invention relates to a hardware-based data security method applicable to flash memories (SSD, USB, SD memory, etc.), and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for permanently erasing data and reusing storage devices using microwaves Based security device and method for causing a computer to function as a security device.

As information technology develops, the amount of data stored in the storage device is explosively increasing. Historical data has been stored using a HDD (Hard Disk Drive) using the principle of magnetic field and magnetic arrangement. However, it is bulky due to mechanical parts such as an actuator and a header, Point and data processing speed is slow, it is currently used only for a large-capacity server.

On the other hand, flash memory (SSD, USB, SD memory, etc.) is used as an internal storage device of most mobile devices and digital devices due to its small volume and high capacity integration, It is also being introduced into large-capacity servers.

As the amount of stored data explosively increases, information having high power of national, social and economical power such as personal information, military information, medical information, confidential information of the state and enterprise, and financial information is stored in the storage device. And this trend of the times is being confirmed by the introduction of the Internet of Things. In such an environment, as the outflow of data becomes so important as to determine the rise and fall of the state and the enterprise largely from the private leakage of the individual, a technique for permanently deleting the data stored in the storage device is noticed .

Generally, it is known that when a user proceeds to delete stored data on an operating system (OS), the data is permanently erased, which is a misinformation. This is because the deletion performed in the operating system is not a physical or hardware erase of the data stored in the hardware (the HDD or the cell of the flash memory) but the software erasing that informs that the space for storing the data can be allocated (Erase). And this software erase is very vulnerable because data can be easily recovered using separate recovery software.

There are physical and hardware erase methods to overcome this problem. In the HDD storage device, a degaussing method in which a magnetic field is applied by applying a high magnetic field is typical, and a HDD destroyed in this way is not permanently restored and reusable.

However, as already mentioned, most storage devices are already being replaced by flash memory, and their weight is increasing. As a typical method of permanently erasing the data of the flash memory, there is an over write method. The principle of this is to overwrite the originally stored data by repeating the process of writing and erasing meaningless data called dummy data to all the cells of the flash memory.

This method is strictly a technology that focuses on physical and hardware programming rather than physical or hardware erase. Thus, due to the intentional repetition of program and erase of dummy data, the originally stored physical and hardware data is obscured by the overwritten dummy data and is permanently unrecoverable. At this time, if you try to recover the data using the recovery software, the software can only restore the dummy data. The overwriting method is advantageous in that the flash memory can be reused unlike the defoaming method mentioned in the HDD.

However, as the degree of integration of flash memory increases, the erase of data using the overwrite method is no longer effective. This is because the overwrite method requires dummy data having the same size as the capacity of the flash memory in the process of writing and erasing data. Considering the fact that the capacity of the flash memory is increasing, it takes considerable time to permanently erase the data using the overwrite method, and this method is no longer practical in the future.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a hardware-based security device capable of erasing and reusing data stored in a flash memory physically, Method.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method and system for efficiently erasing and reusing physical, hardware, and permanent data stored in the flash memory by using a microwave for a large amount of flash memory for a short time Based security device and method.

It is to be understood, however, that the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and may be variously modified without departing from the technical spirit and scope of the present invention.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a hardware-based security device comprising: a heat-resistant container capable of accommodating a memory chip; and a memory chip accommodated in the heat- And a heating device for raising the temperature within the range of 200 to 300 占 폚.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the heat-resistant container may be present in the heating device.

In some embodiments of the invention, the heating device may generate microwaves to provide energy to the memory chips.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the memory chip may be a solid state drive (SSD), a universal serial bus (USB), a secure digital card (SD), a floating gate transistor, or a charge trap layer Layer transistor.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the flash memory chip may include at least one of a phase change memory (PcRAM), a resistive switching random access memory (RRAM), a magnetic random access memory (MRAM) Or Polymer Random Access Memory (PoRAM).

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a hardware-based security device including: a heat-resistant container capable of accommodating a memory chip having a microwave absorbing medium; and a memory chip accommodated in the heat- And a microwave generator.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the microwave absorbing medium comprises a carbon material, and may be mixed with an elastic material (polydimethylsiloxane or hydrogel).

In some embodiments of the present invention, the microwave absorbing medium may have a flexible characteristic and be attached to the memory chip in the form of a film.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the microwave absorbing medium may be formed of a polymer material, a ceramic material, or an inorganic material to facilitate the absorption of microwaves.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the microwave generator may control the time at which the microwave is provided through the controller or the temperature at which the microwave is provided.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a hardware-based security method comprising: a separation step of separating a memory chip from a memory product; a mounting step of mounting the separated memory chip in a heat- And heating the memory chip by exposing the memory chip mounted on the memory chip to a temperature environment of 200 to 300 ° C.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the heating step may heat the memory chip using a microwave.

In some embodiments of the present invention, a coating step may be further included between the separating step and the mounting step, wherein the microwave absorbing medium is applied to the surface of the separated memory chip.

In some embodiments of the present invention, after the heating step, the method may further include a cooling and cleaning step of cooling the surface of the memory chip and cleaning the surface.

In some embodiments of the present invention, after the cooling and cleaning steps, a method of programming a random number to a cell in software, a method of adding a formatting process, or an overwriting method And further enhancing the security of the memory chip to improve the security of the memory chip.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a hardware-based security method comprising: a step of separating a memory chip from a memory article; a recombination step of recombining the separated memory chip into a case of the memory article; And a heating step of heating the memory chip by exposing the memory chip, which is recombined in the case of the memory article, to a temperature environment of 200 to 300 캜.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the heating step may heat the memory chip using a microwave.

In some embodiments of the present invention, it is possible to further include an applying step of applying a microwave absorbing medium to the surface of the separated memory chip, between the separating step and the recombining step.

In some embodiments of the present invention, after the heating step, the method may further include a cooling and cleaning step of separating and cooling the memory chip from the memory article and cleaning the surface of the memory chip.

In some embodiments of the present invention, after the cooling and cleaning steps, the method of coupling the memory chip into the case of the memory article, programming a random number to the cell in a software manner for the memory chip, And a security enhancement step of improving the security of the memory chip by using a method of adding or overwriting the memory chip.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a hardware-based security method including preparing a memory product including a memory chip on which a microwave absorbing medium is coated, Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > C < / RTI > temperature environment to heat the memory chip.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the heating step may heat the memory chip using a microwave.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the outer case of the memory article may have heat resistance in the temperature range of 200 to 300 캜.

Other specific details of the invention are included in the detailed description and drawings.

The hardware-based security apparatus and method according to embodiments of the present invention can dramatically reduce a long time required in a security method of permanently erasing data of an existing flash memory, It is possible to realize hardware-based security with practicality and economy. This can be used in a variety of fields such as defense, cyber banking, internet, personal information, etc., which require strong security.

However, the effects of the present invention are not limited to the above effects, and can be variously extended without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

FIGS. 1A to 1N are views showing a security apparatus and a method according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is experimental data demonstrating that data stored in a cell of one memory can be permanently erased by embodiments of the present invention.
FIGS. 3A and 3B are verification data that permanently deletes data in a memory using the embodiment of the present invention and proves that restoration through commercial software is impossible.
4 is a flowchart sequentially illustrating a security method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The advantages and features of the present invention, and the manner of achieving them, will be apparent from and elucidated with reference to the embodiments described hereinafter in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but is capable of many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, To fully disclose the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art, and the invention is only defined by the scope of the claims.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of illustrating embodiments and is not intended to be limiting of the present invention. In the present specification, the singular form includes plural forms unless otherwise specified in the specification. It is noted that the terms "comprises" and / or "comprising" used in the specification are intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the components, steps, operations, and / Or additions.

Unless defined otherwise, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein may be used in a sense commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. In addition, commonly used predefined terms are not ideally or excessively interpreted unless explicitly defined otherwise.

It should be understood that the various embodiments of the present invention are different, but need not be mutually exclusive. For example, certain features, structures, and characteristics described herein may be implemented in other embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention in connection with one embodiment. It is also to be understood that the position, arrangement, or configuration of individual components within each of the disclosed embodiments may be varied without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numerals are used for the same constituent elements in the drawings and redundant explanations for the same constituent elements are omitted.

FIGS. 1A to 1N are views showing a security apparatus and a method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In the hardware-based security device and method according to the present invention, the temperature of the memory chip is raised to a temperature in the range of 200 to 300 ° C to implement physical and hardware erase of stored data. In particular, we want to implement the physical and hardware erase of the data stored in the memory chip by providing microwave energy to the memory chip.

At this time, the memory finished product 100 may include a transistor such as a solid-state drive (SSD), a universal serial bus (USB), a secure digital card (SD), a floating gate transistor or a charge trap layer And a flash memory. Particularly, the memory finished product 100 may be another kind of memory using SSD, USB, SD, floating gate transistor, charge trap layer transistor, or the like as the memory cell 105.

For example, the memory product 100 may be a memory device such as a phase change memory (PcRAM), a resistive switching random access memory (RRAM), a magnetic random access memory (MRAM) Polymer Random Access Memory (PoRAM).

In the hardware-based security method according to the embodiment of the present invention, first, the memory chip 101 is separated from the memory product 100 as shown in FIG. 1A. Typically, since the outer surface of the memory article 100 is made of plastic or similar resin, it can be damaged or cause fire when exposed to microwaves. However, in some cases, the outer surface of the memory article 100 may be made of a material having heat resistance, and the memory article 100 itself may be heated to permanently delete the stored data of the memory chip 101 in the memory article 100 (This will be described later).

The separated memory chip 101 as shown in FIG. 1B is protected by an epoxy molding compound, which has a durability against a temperature of about 400 ° C. In FIG. 1B, the memory chip 101 is shown as one unit in FIG. 1B. However, a plurality of memory chips 101 may exist depending on the type and capacity of a memory (for example, a flash memory).

The microwave absorbing medium 102 is coated on the surface of the separated memory chip 101 as shown in FIG. As a result, the microwave absorption efficiency of the memory chip 101 can be improved and the microwave absorption medium 102 can be coated on the entire upper and lower surfaces of the memory chip 101 as shown in FIG. 1d.

The microwave absorbing medium 102 includes a carbon material, and an elastic material (polydimethylsiloxane or hydrogel) may be mixed. In addition, the microwave absorbing medium 102 can be attached to the memory chip 101 in the form of a film having a flexible characteristic. In addition, the microwave absorbing medium 102 may be formed of a polymer material, a ceramic material, or an inorganic material to facilitate the absorption of microwaves.

After the memory chip 101 is mounted on the heat-resistant container 103 having high heat resistance as shown in FIG. 1E or 1F, the memory chip 101 is mounted on the microwave generator 104, such as a microwave oven, And exposed to a microwave environment for a predetermined period of time. At this time, the time of exposure to the microwave may be varied depending on the capacity of the memory product 100, the manufacturer, the product type, the type and amount of the microwave absorbing medium 102, and the intensity of the microwave. The heat resistance of the heat-resistant container 103 may vary depending on the intensity and time of the microwave. Here, the microwave generator 104 may control the time for providing the microwave through the controller or may control the temperature at the time when the microwave is provided.

After the heat-resistant container 103 and the memory chip 101 are taken out from the microwave generator 104 and cooling is performed as shown in FIG. 1I or 1J, the cooled memory chip 101 is heat-treated as shown in FIG. 1K or FIG. And is separated from the container 103.

1M, the microwave absorbing medium 102 coated on the surface of the separated memory chip 101 is cleaned and removed. Thereafter, the memory chip 101 in the state shown in FIG. 1M is removed from the memory finished product (100).

Although this device has been described as a microwave generator 104 for the sake of convenience in the context of the present application, this device provides energy to the memory chip 101 housed in the heat-resistant container 103 to raise the temperature of the memory chip 101 within the range of 200 to 300 占 폚 Or the like. Such a heating device may be, for example, a gas module, a heater module, or the like, and may be a heating device that is well known to a person skilled in the art.

The heat-resistant container 103 may be disposed in the heating device.

2 is experimental data demonstrating that data stored in a cell of one memory can be permanently erased by embodiments of the present invention.

The memory chip 101 is an integrated body composed of a large number of memory cells 105. Referring to FIG. 2, it can be seen that when the memory cell 105 is exposed to a temperature environment of 200 to 300 DEG C such as a microwave, it is physically, mechanically, and permanently erased by the generated heat effectively.

The reason for exposing the memory chip 101 to a temperature environment of 200 to 300 ° C at this time is that the epoxy molding compound protecting the memory chip 101 is exposed at a temperature of 400 ° C or more The metal constituting the memory chip 101 is melted at a temperature of 600 ° C. or higher and the doping profile of the memory chip 101 is maintained at a temperature of 300 to 400 ° C. It changes. This is because, in a temperature environment of 200 deg. C or lower, it is difficult to completely realize permanent deletion of data stored in the memory chip 101. [

Generally, data is written to the memory cell 105 according to the voltage application, and data is erased by the electric field. However, even if high heat is applied to the memory cell 105, the stored carriers (electrons) are erased by thermal fluctuation. The present invention is based on such a thermal erase method.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are verification data that permanently deletes data in a memory using the embodiment of the present invention and proves that restoration through commercial software is impossible.

3A and 3B are experimental data for verifying the physical, hardware, and permanent data erase of the memory chip 101, rather than one memory cell 105 as shown in FIG. When the data is stored, the memory chip 101 stores data such as 16 bits, 32 bits, or 64 bits composed of numbers and alphabets in the memory cell 105 as shown in FIG. 3A.

However, as shown in FIG. 3B, in the memory cell 105 in the memory chip 101 after the temperature treatment or the microwave treatment in the range of 200 to 300 ° C. according to the embodiment of the present invention, the data is physically, Erase) and E0, respectively.

This is verification data that proves that data recovery is not possible even through commercial software, and this evidence has been confirmed by companies that support data recovery.

4 is a flowchart sequentially illustrating a security method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4, the security method according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a separating step of separating the memory chip 101, a mounting step of mounting the separated memory chip 101 in the heat-resistant container 103, And heating the memory chip 101 by exposing the memory chip 101 mounted on the memory chip 101 to a temperature environment of 200 to 300 캜.

At this time, the memory finished product 100 can be used as it is, and the microwave generator 104 can be used to expose the memory finished product 100 or the memory chip 101 to a temperature environment of 200 to 300 ° C.

The microwave absorbing medium 102 is applied to the surface of the separated memory chip 101 and the memory chip 101 to which the microwave absorbing medium 102 is applied is attached to the heat resistant container 103, It can be exposed to a temperature environment.

That is, the memory chip 101 may be detached from the memory finished product 100 and mounted on the heat resistant container 103 to be heated. Alternatively, the memory chip 101 may be separated from the memory finished product 100, The microwave absorbing medium 102 may be applied to the memory chip 101 and then the memory chip 101 may be recombined in the case of the memory finished product 100 and heated. However, these methods can be applied only to methods that ordinary technicians can perceive.

After the heating step, the cooling step of cooling the memory chip 101 and cleaning the surface may be performed, but the step of cleaning may be omitted if necessary.

After the cooling step, a method of programming a random number to the memory cell 105 with respect to the memory chip 101, a method of adding a formatting process, or an overwrite method is used to program the memory chip 101 May improve the security of the system.

The features, structures, effects and the like described in the embodiments are included in one embodiment of the present invention, and are not necessarily limited to one embodiment. Further, the features, structures, effects, and the like, which are presented in the respective embodiments, can be combined and modified by other persons having ordinary knowledge in the field to which the embodiments belong. Therefore, it should be understood that the present invention is not limited to these combinations and modifications.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is clearly understood that the same is by way of illustration and example only and is not to be construed as limiting the present invention. It will be understood that various modifications and applications not illustrated in the drawings are possible. For example, each component specifically shown in the embodiments can be modified and implemented. It is to be understood that all changes and modifications that come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

100: Memory Finished product
101: Memory chip (Chip)
102: Microwave absorber
103: Heat-resistant container
104: Microwave generator
105: memory cell (Cell)

Claims (23)

A heat-resistant container capable of accommodating a memory chip; And
And a heating device for providing energy to the memory chip housed in the heat-resistant container to raise the temperature of the memory chip to within a range of 200 to 300 占 폚. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the heat-resistant container is present in the heating device. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the heating device generates microwaves to provide energy to the memory chip. The method of claim 3,
The memory chip may include a flash memory including a solid-state drive (SSD), a universal serial bus (USB), a secure digital card (SD), a floating gate transistor, or a charge trap layer transistor Chip, a hardware-based security device. 5. The method of claim 4,
The flash memory chip may be a flash memory such as a phase change memory (PcRAM), a resistive switching random access memory (RRAM), a magnetic random access memory (MRAM), or a polymer random access memory : PoRAM). ≪ / RTI > A heat-resistant container capable of accommodating a memory chip to which a microwave-absorbing medium is attached; And
And a microwave generator for providing microwave energy to the memory chip housed in the heat-resistant container. The method according to claim 6,
Wherein the microwave absorbing medium comprises a carbon material and is mixed with an elastic material (polydimethylsiloxane or hydrogel). 8. The method of claim 7,
Wherein the microwave absorbing medium is attached to the memory chip in the form of a film having a flexible characteristic. 9. The method of claim 8,
The microwave absorbing medium is formed of a polymer material, a ceramic material, or an inorganic material to facilitate the absorption of microwaves. 10. The method of claim 9,
Wherein the microwave generator controls the time at which the microwave is provided through the controller or controls the temperature at the time when the microwave is provided. A separating step of separating the memory chip from the memory article;
A mounting step of mounting the separated memory chips in a heat-resistant container; And
And a heating step of heating the memory chip by exposing the memory chip mounted in the heat-resistant container to a temperature environment of 200 to 300 占 폚. 12. The method of claim 11,
Wherein the heating step heats the memory chip using a microwave. 13. The method of claim 12,
And applying a microwave absorbing medium to the surface of the separated memory chip between the separating step and the mounting step. 14. The method of claim 13,
And cooling and cleaning the surface of the memory chip after the heating step. 15. The method of claim 14,
After the cooling and cleaning steps, a method of programming a random number to a cell in software, a method of adding a formatting process, or an overwriting method to the memory chip, security enhancement that further enhances security. < Desc / Clms Page number 12 > A separating step of separating the memory chip from the memory article;
A recombination step of recombining the separated memory chips into a case of the memory article; And
And a heating step of heating the memory chip by exposing the memory chip recombined in the case of the memory article to a temperature environment of 200 to 300 占 폚. 17. The method of claim 16,
Wherein the heating step heats the memory chip using a microwave. 18. The method of claim 17,
And applying a microwave absorbing medium to the surface of the separated memory chip between the separating step and the recombining step. 19. The method of claim 18,
Further comprising a cooling and cleaning step of separating and cooling the memory chip from the memory article after the heating step and cleaning the surface of the memory chip. 20. The method of claim 19,
After the cooling and cleaning steps, the memory chip is coupled into the case of the memory article,
A method of programming a random number to a cell in a software manner, a method of adding a formatting process, or an overwriting method to the memory chip to improve the security of the memory chip Further comprising an enhancement step. Preparing a memory article comprising a memory chip on which a microwave absorbing medium is applied to a surface; And
And heating the memory chip by exposing the memory article to a temperature environment of 200-300 占 폚. 22. The method of claim 21,
Wherein the heating step heats the memory chip using a microwave. 22. The method of claim 21,
Wherein the outer case of the memory article has heat resistance in the temperature range of 200 to 300 占 폚.

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