Memory recovery (microcode extraction) from all types of MCU

[DRAPALIS]

Semiconductors Research Inc. is the team of security specialists using modern semiconductor
equipment provides all kind of reverse engineering service as:

- Security analyses of Your product and consulting
- Memory recovery (microcode extraction) from all types of MCU (Microcontrollers), CPLD (Programmable Logic)
- Microcode reverse engineering
- IC part identification

Our laboratory activity focuses on:

- Research into security vulnerabilities of microcontrollers, CPLDs and FPGAs
- Developing attack methods for MaskROM, EPROM, EEPROM, Flash, Antifuse and FRAM memories
- Research into innovative attack technologies
- Evaluating of existing products against non-invasive, semi-invasive and invasive attacks

Semiconductor Research Inc. Team
https://www.semiresearch.com

 

[Someone Electro]

i dont think if advising is premited here

but im not the administartor.

 

[DigiTan]

I've got to admit though, it sounds pretty cool. I had no idea such a procedure existed.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Interesting! - an advert by professional crooks?.

 

[Someone Electro]

I didnt know its posible to get data from an PIC that has ben erased

 

[bmcculla]

The equipment you need for this sort of stuff is going to be way too expensive to make it worth while to crooks - there are much easier ways to make money illegaly.

Semiconductor companies use this sort of stuff to do failure analysis on ICs. Also I think security analysis is required for certain government electronics.

Its cool what you can do with this sort of equipment. You can pull apart an IC one layer at a time and probe individual transistors. Supposedly you can even watch transistors switching by the tiny number of photons they emit when switching.

This ad is really poorly targeted on this board. Not a lot of hobbiests with the kind of money to do this stuff .

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

The equipment you need for this sort of stuff is going to be way too expensive to make it worth while to crooks - there are much easier ways to make money illegaly.

How else does firmware get stolen?, you employ companies like this to 'break in' and 'steal' the code.

I don't see it as any different to a crook breaking into peoples houses and stealing to order?.

But as you say, it's not cheap (not by a long way!), and it's pointless targeting a board like this.

 

[Andy_123]

There are no laws in a former Soviet Union and all former parts of it.
They think that stealing of intellectual property is not a crime.
They think copying of software and re-selling copies is perfectly legal.
They think copying of movies and reselling is OK.
Looks like hardware hacking is legal now... At least they think that.

 

[Someone Electro]

if you sell anything copyrighted its a crime

 

[Jay.slovak]

There are no laws in a former Soviet Union and all former parts of it.
They think that stealing of intellectual property is not a crime.
They think copying of software and re-selling copies is perfectly legal.
They think copying of movies and reselling is OK.
Looks like hardware hacking is legal now... At least they think that.

I think you are not true about "former parts". You can't judge everyone because he/she is from such country. Everybody is different, and every country has it's own law's. It's true, that selling copies is not good for author, I agree.

PS: I am from Slovakia and we DO HAVE antipiracy laws... :lol:

 

[Andy_123]

I think you are not true about "former parts". You can't judge everyone because he/she is from such country. Everybody is different, and every country has it's own law's. It's true, that selling copies is not good for author, I agree.

I agree that not everyone does this.
But stealing ideas and reverse engineering was a goverment policy in USSR. Some research places were founded ONLY to do reverse engineering. All was done on the goverment level. I think here we see results - these people looking for work.
It is not that important to have laws, important is to enforce them on all levels of power. And this is not done yet in USSR...

 

[Jay.slovak]

I think you are not true about "former parts". You can't judge everyone because he/she is from such country. Everybody is different, and every country has it's own law's. It's true, that selling copies is not good for author, I agree.

I agree that not everyone does this.
But stealing ideas and reverse engineering was a goverment policy in USSR. Some research places were founded ONLY to do reverse engineering. All was done on the goverment level. I think here we see results - these people looking for work.
It is not that important to have laws, important is to enforce them on all levels of power. And this is not done yet in USSR...

I hope you know what you are talking about, USSR does not exist anymore :lol: . Please refer to Russia... USSR used to reverse many chips, eg. popular 486 or even 8051!
Reverse engineering sure is crap. :evil:

 

[spuffock]

I'm curious about how you go about getting the program out of a PIC with the code protect fuse blown.. not that I'd dream of.... er...

 

[Jay.slovak]

I'm curious about how you go about getting the program out of a PIC with the code protect fuse blown.. not that I'd dream of.... er...

If you have a good equipment, you can for example set/clear CP bit "manualy"... Opening the PIC and useing laser to fry CP circuits or so on.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

I'm curious about how you go about getting the program out of a PIC with the code protect fuse blown.. not that I'd dream of.... er...

If you do extensive web searches you can find various articles about it - but it's not trivial, and it's not cheap!. PIC's are probably as well protected as any micro-controllers, but you can't really protect against dissolving the encapsulation and using electron microscopes on the silicon die.

Generally the crooks who advertise such services require a number of samples to work on, it's a long way short of a 100% effective procedure 8)

 

[Oznog]

I'm curious about how you go about getting the program out of a PIC with the code protect fuse blown.. not that I'd dream of.... er...

Oh there are all sorts of tricks: https://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/users/rja14/tamper.html

I do not advocate it, it's just fascinating to see how far people went.

Few people "reverse engineer" a product just to steal the design, you could probably build your own quicker & cheaper and understand it far better. You do it because you want to steal something else with it, like making a product which steals satellite TV by immitating the subscriber cards with the subscription information hacked one way or the other. You need to extract the encryption method from the hardware/firmware or you may not be able to figure out how to crack it in a million years.

 

[Someone Electro]

cool.an chip an be opend that esaly.

 

[pike]

wow accordingly to that i would be about class 1. :twisted:

stealing the school teachers documents, reveals everything that happens in my school. After all it is my school, i deserve to know what goes on, don't I??

Shifty.. :twisted:

 

[DRAPALIS]

Let me do some corrections here

There are no laws in a former Soviet Union and all former parts of it.
They think that stealing of intellectual property is not a crime.
They think copying of software and re-selling copies is perfectly legal.
They think copying of movies and reselling is OK.
Looks like hardware hacking is legal now... At least they think that.

@Andy_123

Let me do some corrections here:

- Lithuania is an independent country since 1991
- There is very strict copyright law in Lithuania and EU (since 2004 Lithuania is the member of EU)
- Semiconductor Research Inc. do not break any copyright law. Before proceeding with code recovery, the customer must sign an agreement :
https://www.semiresearch.com/other_files/agreement.pdf
- The microcode recovery is not our main activity, SRI more focusing on data recovery after accidential erase of MCU and tamper-resistant MCU, CPLD security vulnerabilities
- The average prices usually high and not acceptable for low level "hackers"
- True that some of our engineers experienced on re-designing the integrated circuits in semiconductor companies in ex-USSR
- True that part of the equipments involved in code recovery processes is used for IC failure analyses (FIB, SEM, Plasma etching, RIE, Micro-probing station etc.) Also some equipment is developed in SRI facilities

SRI Team

 

[Andy_123]

Just a few comments to the previous post as it was addressed drirectly to me:

The average prices usually high and not acceptable for low level "hackers"

Then why you are trying to advertise on this site. You obviuosly can't find fat wallets here...

There is very strict copyright law in Lithuania and EU (since 2004 Lithuania is the member of EU)

Is is not enough to have laws, it is important to enforce them.
Reverce engineering is direct violation of copyright laws.
If someone opens such company in US, he would be in jail in a few days.

And believe me, I know what was going in the former Soviet Union first hand...
Living in the US for over a decade I can see things differently now.

Your country is independent, but mentality of the people did not change since. Sorry.