Hello and welcome to my blog! My name is Kevin and I’m a French PhD student in Embedded Systems Security. I have a deep passion for exploring the world of hardware security and cybersecurity in general. I love diving into the intricate details of various systems and devices.

Experience 👨‍💻

1. PhD Student in Secure Processor Architecture

   Lab-STICC, Lorient, France

   2023 - 2026
   
   This thesis project centers on enhancing the security of embedded processors, particularly within the framework of the RISC-V architecture. Its goal is to fortify processor designs against physical attacks by studying and implementing defenses against fault injection attacks targeting data and control flows. The approach combines hardware extensions tailored to the RISC-V processor and instruction set with software-based protection mechanisms to bolster overall security.
   

   Skills

   • FPGA Development
   • Embedded software
   • C
   • RTOS
   • Python
   • Chipwhisperer
   • Fault Injection Attacks
   • Assembly
   • Distribution Linux
   • Network

2. Master 2 CSSE - Internship

   Lab-STICC, Lorient, France

   2023 (6 months)
   
   The goal is to showcase the vulnerability of a memory protection mechanism called Physical Memory Protection (PMP) in RISC-V code, as demonstrated in an article by Nashimoto et al. This vulnerability involves physical attack, the Fault Injection Attacks using clock signal manipulation. To investigate further, we developed a System-on-Chip (SoC) on the Arty A7-100T FPGA board, featuring the CVA6 RISC-V processor using the LiteX framework.
   

   Skills

   • FPGA Development
   • Chipwhisperer
   • Fault injection attacks
   • Python
   • Assembly
   • PMP
   • C

3. Master 1 CSSE - Internship

   Lab-STICC, Lorient, France

   2022 (3 months)
   
   The aim is to evaluate the sensitivity of a RISC-V processor to physical attacks. The types of physical attacks used are Fault Injection Attacks (FIA) using the clock signal and the voltage pulse. These FIAs disrupted an SoC created by the framework called LiteX.
   

   Skills

   • FPGA Development
   • Chipwhisperer
   • Fault Injection Attacks
   • Python
   • Assembly
   • C

Educational projects 🧑🏽‍🏫

1. Project - SERPENT encryption algorithm

   University UBS, Lorient, France

   2022 (40 hours)
   
   The aim of this project is to understand and develop a block encryption algorithm called SERPENT. Development is carried out in VHDL hardware description for implementation on the Xilinx Zedboard FPGA board.
   

   Skills

   • FPGA Development
   • TestBench
   • VHDL
   • Debugging
   • Scope
   • Cryptographic algorithm

2. Project - Trivium encryption algorithm

   University UBS, Lorient, France

   2021 (40 hours)
   
   The aim of this project is to understand and develop a stream encryption algorithm called Trivium. Development is carried out in VHDL hardware description for implementation on the Xilinx BASYS-3 FPGA board.
   

   Skills

   • FPGA Development
   • TestBench
   • VHDL
   • Debugging
   • Scope
   • Cryptographic algorithm

3. Project - Physical password manager

   University UBS, Lorient, France

   2021 (10 weeks)
   
   The aim of this project is to develop a physical password manager that securely stores passwords using various identification methods like PIN codes and fingerprints. The passwords are safeguarded for confidentiality, integrity, and authentication purposes. The physical password manager consists of an STM32 board equipped with a Trusted Execution Environment (TEE), along with authentication means such as a fingerprint sensor and a keypad for PIN code.
   

   Skills

   • STM32 development
   • C
   • Python
   • Fingerprint sensor
   • Trusted Execution Environment (TEE)
   • Keypad
   • Cryptographic module

Education 🧑‍🎓

1. Master CSSE

   University UBS, Lorient, France

   2023
   
   These 2 years, I have specialized in the cybersecurity of embedded systems, with an emphasis on securing electronic and computer components. My master's degree covered hardware and software security, exploit development, reverse engineering and Linux distribution security, which considerably enhanced my skills.
   

   Skills

   • FPGA Develoment
   • Network IoT
   • Embedded software
   • Secure Linux
   • RTOS
   • Physical attacks
   • Cryptographic algorithms
   • Security Module

2. Bachelor SNEII

   University UBS, Lorient, France

   2021
   
   This year, I learned about digital technology and how it's used in industry. I explored things like electronics, computing, and how signals are processed for communication systems like IoT. I also studied the basic principles of computer systems, like how they're built and how they operate.
   

   Skills

   • language C
   • Python
   • Linux Distribution
   • Assembly
   • Assembly
   • Microcontroller
   • Bash