Graduate Theses and Dissertations (2019 - present)
Date of Award
5-2026
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.S.
Department
Computer and Information Science
Committee Chair
George Clark, Ph.D.
Abstract
This research investigates security vulnerabilities in Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) at the bitstream level, focusing on hardware trojans (HTs) that manipulate encryption operations. This study addresses two critical questions: (1) The feasibility of exploiting FPGA bitstreams to selectively bypass encryption operations when a predefined input pattern is observed (all ones), thereby exposing sensitive data, and (2) the efficacy of Siamese Neural Networks (SNNs) in detecting such trojans with high accuracy. FPGAs are vulnerable to malicious modifications during manufacturing or deployment, posing risks to data integrity and system functionality. In this work, a trojan is inserted into a Xilinx series-7 FPGA bitstream using Project X-Ray, altering the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) module to bypass encryption when triggered. Power traces from both clean and trojan-infected FPGAs are collected and analyzed using a SNN model trained to distinguish between benign and malicious behavior. The findings of this research seek to inform future desigus of secure, tamper-resistant FPGA systems in critical applications.
Recommended Citation
Arnett, Kylie, "Using Siamese Neural Networks to Effectively Detect Trojans in FPGAs when Trojans Manipulate Encryption Operations at the Bitstream Level" (2026). Graduate Theses and Dissertations (2019 - present). 245.
https://jagworks.southalabama.edu/theses_diss/245
Included in
Cybersecurity Commons, OS and Networks Commons, Other Computer Sciences Commons, Programming Languages and Compilers Commons, Systems Architecture Commons