Break IC, Recover MCU, Microcontroller Reverse Engineering

Clone IC Program from memory which include flash and eeprom memory, reset the status of Microcontroller Chip from locked to open one;

Clone IC Program from memory which include flash and eeprom memory,

One of the most effective ways of IC Clone is by Brute force MCU cracking, can be also applied to a hardware design implemented into an ASIC or a CPLD. In this case the IC attacker tries to apply all possible logic combinations to the input of the device while observing all its outputs. That kind of ic break could be also called black-box analysis because the ic decryption expert does not have to know anything about the design of the device under test.

He only tries to understand the function of the device by trying all possible combinations of signals. This approach works well only for relatively small logic devices. Another problem when extracting program from IC memory will face is that designs implemented in CPLDs or ASICs have flip-flops, so the output will probably be function of both the previous state and the input. But the search space can be significantly reduced if the signals are observed and analysed beforehand. For example, clock inputs, data buses and some control signals could be easily identified, significantly reducing the area of search.

Decrypt Microprocessor ATmega1281 Eeprom and extract MCU ATmega1281 code from flash memory, prepare Microcontroller ATmega1281 unit clone by copy the firmware to new MCU unit;

Decrypt Microprocessor ATmega1281 Eeprom and extract MCU ATmega1281 code from flash memory, prepare Microcontroller ATmega1281 unit clone by copy the firmware to new MCU unit

The Instruction Set for Serial Programming follows a 3-byte protocol and is shown in the following table: Stresses beyond those listed under “Absolute Maximum Ratings” may cause permanent damage to the device.
This is a stress rating only and functional operation of the device at these or any other conditions beyond those indicated in the operational sections of this specification is not implied if breaking PIC16F716 heximal memory.

Exposure to absolute maximum rating conditions for extended periods may affect device reliability. Under operating conditions, load capacitance for Port 0, ALE/PROG, and PSEN = 100 pF; load capacitance for all other outputs = 80 pF.
Typical values contained in this datasheet are based on simulations and characterization of other AVR microcontrollers manufactured on the same process technology. Min and Max values will be available after the device is characterized. The ATmega1281 is a low-power CMOS 8-bit microcontroller based on the AVR enhanced RISC architecture.

By executing powerful instructions in a single clock cycle, the ATmega1281 achieves throughputs approaching 1 MIPS per MHz allowing the system designer to optimize power consumption versus processing speed.
The AVR core combines a rich instruction set with 32 general purpose working registers. All the 32 registers are directly connected to the Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU), allowing two independent registers to be accessed in one single instruction executed in one clock cycle.
The resulting architecture is more code efficient while achieving throughputs up to ten times faster than conventional CISC microcontrollers.

Crack IC Flash memory and extract the content inside flash memory, the program can be reprogramme to new MCU which can provide the same functions as originals;

Crack IC Flash memory and extract the content inside flash memory, the program can be reprogramme to new MCU which can provide the same functions as originals

‘Brute force’ has different meanings for cryptography and semiconductor hardware. A brute force MCU breaking would be defined as the methodical application of a large set of trials for a key to the system. This is usually done with a computer or an array of FPGAs delivering patterns at high speed and looking for success.

One example could be the password protection scheme used in microcontrollers, such as the Texas Instruments MSP430 family. The password itself is 32 bytes (256 bits) long which is more than enough to withstand direct brute force ic decode. But the password is allocated at the same memory addresses as the CPU interrupt vectors.

That, firstly, reduces the area of search as the vectors always point to even addresses within memory. Secondly, when the software gets updated, only a small part of the password is changed because most of the interrupt subroutines pointed to by the vectors are very likely to stay at the same addresses. As a result, if the ic breaker knows one of the previous passwords he could easily do a systematic search and find the correct password in a reasonable time.

Hack IC Program locked in the flash memory, remove the fuse bit of the Microcontroller by cracking technique, extract code from master MCU and reprogramme the file to new MCU;

Hack IC Program locked in the flash memory, remove the fuse bit of the Microcontroller by cracking technique, extract code from master MCU and reprogramme the file to new MCU

As one of the most effective method of IC crack, To prevent these ic program attack happen, the designer should carefully calculate the number of CPU cycles that take place when the password is compared and make sure they are the same for correct and incorrect passwords. For example, in the Motorola 68HC08 microcontrollers family the internal ROM bootloader allows access to the Flash memory only if the correct eight-byte password was entered first. To achieve that, extra NOP commands were added to the program making the processing time equal for both correct and incorrect bytes of the password. That gives good protection against timing mcu attacks. Some microcontrollers have an internal RC generator mode of operation in which the CPU running frequency depends upon the power supply voltage and the die temperature. This makes timing analysis more difficult as the mcu cracker has to stabilize the device temperature and reduce any fluctuations and noise on the power supply line. Some smartcards have an internally randomised clock signal to make measurements of the time delays useless for the ic break.

Attack IC Flash memory by cut off the security fuse bit embedded among memories and center processor, read firmware out from flash, eeprom or ROM memory of Microcontroller, clone the heximal to new MCU;

Attack IC Flash memory by cut off the security fuse bit embedded among memories and center processor, read firmware out from flash, eeprom or ROM memory of Microcontroller, copy the heximal to new MCU

Timing ic attacks flash can be applied to microcontrollers whose security protection is based on passwords, or to access control systems that use cards or keys with fixed serial numbers, for example, Dallas iButton products. The common mistake in such systems is the way the serial number of the entered key is verified against the database. Very often the system checks each byte of the key against one entry in the database and stops as soon as an incorrect byte is found.

Then it switches to the next entry in the database until it reaches the end. So the ic cracker can easily measure the time between the input of the last key and the request for another key and figure out how many coincidences were found. With a relatively small number of attempts, he will be able to find one of the matching keys.

Extract IC Flash memory content and copy code to new MCU memory which will provide the same functions as original Microcontroller;

Extract IC Flash memory content and copy code to new MCU memory which will provide the same functions as original Microcontroller

To conduct the ic flash extraction, the ic attacker one needs to collect a set of messages, together with their processing time, e.g. question-answer delay. Many cryptographic algorithms were found to be vulnerable to timing ic cracks. The main reason why this happens is in the software implementation of each algorithm.

That includes performance optimisation to bypass unnecessary branching and conditional operations, cache memory usage, non-fixed time processor instructions such as multiplication and division, and a wide variety of other causes. As a result performance characteristics typically depend on both the encryption key and the input data.

To prevent such MCU code restoration, the techniques used for blinding signatures can be used . The general idea is to prevent the attacker knowing the input to the modular exponentiation operation by mixing the input with a chosen random value.

Restore IC Program from its embedded flash memory and eeprom memory has to change the status of Microcontroller from encrypted to un-encrypted, then readout code from MCU memory with universal programmer;

Restore IC Program from its embedded flash memory and eeprom memory has to change the status of Microcontroller from encrypted to un-encrypted, then readout code from MCU memory with universal programmer

Semiconductor manufacturers offer valuable customers an easy way to increase the protection of their products: IC chips with custom marking on the packages instead of standard chip names. That gives the impression that the final product was designed using ASICs or full custom ICs.

‘Everyone knows’ that ASICs offer very good protection against different sorts of ic attacks and only well equipped and highly skilled ic crackers could succeed with br restore IC program from them. This may stop many potential mcu attackers fiddling with the product.

However, a determined mcu cracker could try an easy way to check whether this chip was actually an ASIC. The easy way is to note which pins are connected to power supply, ground, clock, reset, serial, and other interfaces, and to compare all this information with the database of suspect microcontrollers or other ICs.

This works very reliably, as each microcontroller family has its own characteristic pinout. Once similarities are found the suspected microcontroller could be verified by placing it into a programming device or universal programmer and trying to read it.

Break Microcontroller ATmega1281V embedded memory include flash and eeprom, extract firmware from MCU memory after reset the security fuse bit by focus ion beam technique, which is commonly method for microcontroller unlocking;

Break Microcontroller ATmega1281V embedded memory include flash and eeprom, extract firmware from MCU memory after reset the security fuse bit by focus ion beam technique, which is commonly method for microcontroller unlocking

The ATmega1281 provides the following features: 64K/128K/256K bytes of In-System Programmable Flash with Read-While-Write capabilities, 4K bytes EEPROM, 8K bytes SRAM, 54/86 general purpose I/O lines, 32 general purpose working registers when Microcontroller MC68HC11A0FN3 binary recovery.

Real Time Counter (RTC), six flexible Timer/Counters with compare modes and PWM, 4 USARTs, a byte oriented 2-wire Serial Interface, a 16-channel, 10-bit ADC with optional differential input stage with programmable gain, programmable Watchdog Timer with Internal Oscillator, an SPI serial port, IEEE std. 1149.1 compliant JTAG test interface, also used for accessing the On-chip Debug system and programming and six firmware selectable power saving modes if break Microcontroller LPC2132FBD64 firmware.

The Idle mode stops the CPU while allowing the SRAM, Timer/Counters, SPI port, and interrupt system to continue functioning. The Power-down mode saves the register contents but freezes the Oscillator, disabling all other chip functions until the next interrupt or Hardware Reset.
In Power-save mode, the asynchronous timer continues to run, allowing the user to maintain a timer base while the rest of the devMicrocontrollere is sleeping.

The ADC Noise Reduction mode stops the CPU and all I/O modules except Asynchronous Timer and ADC, to minimize switching noise during ADC conversions. In Standby mode, the Crystal/Resonator Oscillator is running while the rest of the devMicrocontrollere is sleeping.

This allows very fast start-up combined with low power consumption. In Extended Standby mode, both the main Oscillator and the Asynchronous Timer continue to run. The devMicrocontrollere is manufactured using Atmel’s high-density nonvolatile memory technology if break Microcontroller MC68HC11F1CFN3 heximal.

The On-chip ISP Flash allows the program memory to be reprogrammed in-system through an SPI serial interface, by a conventional nonvolatile memory programmer, or by an On-chip Boot program running on the AVR core. The boot program can use any interface to download the application.
Firmware in the Boot Flash section will continue to run while the Application Flash section is updated, providing true Read-While-Write operation. By combining an 8-bit RISC CPU with In-System Self-Program mable Flash on a Microcontroller chip, the Atmel ATmega1281 is a powerful Microcontroller that provides a highly flexible and cost effective solution to many embedded Microcontroller.

Decrypt Microprocessor ATmega2561 memory and extract dump from flash memory and eeprom memory, the content include program and data which will be presented in the format of binary or heximal;

Decrypt Microprocessor ATmega2561 memory and extract dump from flash memory and eeprom memory, the content include program and data which will be presented in the format of binary or heximal

The ATmega2561 AVR is supported with a full suite of program and system development tools including: C compilers, macro assemblers, program debugger/simulators, in-circuit emulators, and evaluation kits. Each device in the ATmega2561 family differs only in memory size and number of pins. Table 1 summarizes the different configurations for the six devices.
Port A is an 8-bit bi-directional I/O port with internal pull-up resistors (selected for each bit). The Port A output buffers have symmetrical drive characteristics with both high sink and source capability before decrypt copy microcontroller P87C51X2BBD binary.
As inputs, Port A pins that are externally pulled low will source current if the pull-up resistors are activated. The Port A pins are tri-stated when a reset condition becomes active, even if the clock is not running. Port B is an 8-bit bi-directional I/O port with internal pull-up resistors (selected for each bit).

The Port B output buffers have symmetrical drive characteristics with both high sink and source capability. As inputs, Port B pins that are externally pulled low will source current if the pull-up resistors are activated when recovery Microprocessor AT89C4051 heximal.
The Port B pins are tri-stated when a reset condition becomes active, even if the clock is not running. Port B has better driving capabilities than the other ports.
Port C is an 8-bit bi-directional I/O port with internal pull-up resistors (selected for each bit). The Port C output buffers have symmetrical drive characteristics with both high sink and source capability. As inputs, Port C pins that are externally pulled low will source current if the pull-up resistors are activated. The Port C pins are tri-stated when a reset condition becomes active, even if the clock is not running.
Port D is an 8-bit bi-directional I/O port with internal pull-up resistors (selected for each bit). The Port D output buffers have symmetrical drive characteristics with both high sink and source capability.
As inputs, Port D pins that are externally pulled low will source current if the pull-up resistors are activated. The Port D pins are tri-stated when a reset condition becomes active, even if the clock is not running.