Detecting physical penetration of secure device
View Patent ↗An example device in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure includes an interleaved connector including a plurality of layers of conducting material interspersed with insulating material. A plurality of electrodes are to identify a change in capacitance of the interleaved connector to indicate a penetration of the device.
1. A system to detect a physical penetration of a secure device, comprising:
an interleaved connector including a plurality of layers of conducting material interspersed with insulating material, wherein the interleaved connector is to be installed on the secure device; and
a plurality of electrodes to identify a change in capacitance of the interleaved connector to indicate a penetration of the secure device;
wherein a plurality of layers of conducting material are in contact with a given one of the plurality of electrodes.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the n layers of conducting material are oriented substantially parallel to each other and to a direction of compression experienced by the interleaved connector when installed.
3. The system of claim 1 , wherein a given electrode is to be in contact with a plurality of conductive layers of the installed interleaved connector, and wherein the electrodes are separated from each other along a direction perpendicular to an orientation of the conductive layers and a direction of compression experienced by the interleaved connector when installed.
4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the electrodes are separated from each other by a distance that is substantially over ten times a distance between adjacent ones of the layers of conducting material of the interleaved connector.
5. The system of claim 1 , wherein a width of a given electrode is substantially wider than a distance between adjacent ones of the layers of conducting material such that a given electrode is electrically coupled to a plurality of layers.
6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of layers of conducting material interspersed with insulating material are arranged at a density of substantially 100 layers per inch and higher.
7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the interleaved connector includes elastomeric conducting layers interspersed with elastomeric dielectric layers.
8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the interleaved connector is an elastomeric connector.
9. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a controller to check the capacitance over time to identify whether a change in capacitance exceeds a threshold value to indicate a physical penetration, and to self-calibrate to adjust the threshold value over time to compensate for capacitance drift over time due to aging of components.
10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the system is to comply with physical security requirements of at least one of i) a payment card industry (PCI), and ii) a federal information processing standard (FIPS), regarding physical security around a portion of the system dealing with encrypted data.
11. A system to detect a physical penetration of a secure device, comprising:
an interleaved connector including a plurality of layers of conducting material interspersed with insulating material, wherein the interleaved connector is to be installed at the secure device such that the layers of conducting material extend parallel to each other along a direction substantially parallel to a direction of compression to be experienced by the interleaved connector when installed; and
a plurality of electrodes to identify a change in capacitance of the interleaved connector to indicate a penetration of the secure device.
12. The system of claim 11 , wherein a first electrode is to contact a first plurality of layers of conducting material, and a second electrode offset from the first electrode is to contact a second plurality of layers of conducting material different than the first plurality of layers of conducting material, wherein a third plurality of layers between the first electrode and the second electrode are not in contact with the first electrode and are not in contact with the second electrode.
13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the layers of conducting material extend to at least one same surface of the interleaved connector, and wherein the first electrode and the second electrode are to contact the first and second pluralities of layers of conducting material of the interleaved connector to share a given one of the at least one same surface of the interleaved connector.
14. A method to detect a physical penetration of a secure device, comprising:
checking, by a controller, a capacitance of an interleaved connector installed at the secure device, wherein the interleaved connector includes n layers of conducting material interspersed with insulating material, wherein n is substantially greater than five;
identifying a change in capacitance of the interleaved connector exceeding a threshold value; and
identifying a penetration of the secure device in response to exceeding the threshold value.
15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising adjusting the threshold value over time to self-calibrate and compensate for capacitance drift over time due to aging of components.