An Efficient Method for Random Delay Generation in Embedded Software

Random delays are a countermeasure against a range of side channel and fault attacks that is often implemented in embedded software. We propose a new method for generation of random delays and a criterion for measuring the efficiency of a random delay countermeasure. We implement this new method along with the existing ones on an 8-bit platform and mount practical side-channel attacks against the implementations. We show that the new method is significantly more secure in practice than the previously published solutions and also more lightweight.