The Secret Story Behind the Birth of "Scramble Memory"

In today's digital environment, security measures relying solely on network perimeter defense have reached their limits, making the transition to zero-trust security that suspects and verifies every access an urgent priority.
However, storage security technologies such as conventional encrypted drives had a structural weakness where data in storage was released from protection and converted back to plaintext after the system booted and user authentication was completed.
In this way, during system operation, sufficient defense capability cannot be demonstrated against host OS vulnerabilities or unauthorized intrusions.

To address this challenge, Sees Co., Ltd. took on a completely new approach on a different dimension from conventional security, and "Scramble Memory" does not consider security in units of media or files, but is created by considering a method that guarantees the authenticity of continuous data itself so that it cannot be read even if taken.

It is a technology that applies Sees' patented technology called "Hashchain", which realizes high security in data units in data transmission from sensors to the cloud, directly to data recording, and realizing high security in data units is the basic concept of "Scramble Memory".

Overview and Limitations of Data Protection Storage Methods

Although major data protection storage technologies currently in operation have evolved specializing in specific threats and usage environments, they each possess inherent structural limitations in comprehensive data preservation required under a zero-trust environment.

(1) Self-Encrypting Drive Method (SED)

It is a hardware encryption technology installed in major SSDs and other devices.
It maintains high confidentiality when the drive alone is stolen, but after the OS boots and authentication is completed, the entire area is released from protection all at once, rendering it powerless against malware or unauthorized intrusion during system operation.
In addition, it does not possess functions to detect data tampering or to prove access authenticity.

(2) Encrypted Drive Method

It is software encryption such as BitLocker that functions at the OS or file system layer.
It performs checks of system integrity using TPM chips, but its structural limitation of not having sufficient defense capability against intrusions during system operation because the entire area is released after OS boot or authentication completion is similar to self-encrypting drives.

(3) Distributed Object Storage Method

It is a cloud technology that divides data into objects, attaches recovery codes, and saves them across multiple environments.
Although fault tolerance is extremely high, because meta information indicating data placement locations exists within the system, it carries the risk of being restored all at once if administrator privileges are hijacked.

(4) Immutable Storage Method

It is a technology that locks data changes and deletions at the system level to prevent rewriting.
It is strong against tampering prevention such as ransomware, but because it does not possess a function to conceal data, it cannot defend if raw data is directly taken out.

(5) Secret Sharing Method

It is a technology that divides data into meaningless fragments using proprietary calculation formulas and saves them in a distributed manner.
Because the encryption key itself does not exist, confidentiality is high, but since management information for data restoration is often held on the endpoint device side, the risk of all fragments being collected and restored upon OS compromise cannot be eliminated.

(6) Encrypted Split Storage Method

It is a technology that fragmentates encrypted data and manages it with technology such as Blockchain.
It possesses advanced tampering detection functions, but it mainly relies on cloud environments and lacks a mechanism to dynamically prove the physical legitimacy of the device itself.

Indecipherable Structure Without Configuration Information

The greatest strength of "Scramble Memory" lies in the fact that it holds no meta information at all indicating data configuration or placement inside storage.
When storing data into storage, it encrypts it in advance, fragmentates it to a high degree, and further saves it in a distributed manner by mixing dummy data indistinguishable from real data.

In general secret sharing and similar methods, a placement map of fragments is retained, but "Scramble Memory" leaves none of this information inside storage.
The Seed required for restoration is stored completely isolated in a secure area within terminal chips such as ARM TrustZone.
With this structure, even if chip-off analysis is performed to disassemble storage and extract raw data directly from memory chips, it is impossible to identify which is real data and in what order it should be combined.

Data Protection on Transmission Paths and Chip-Level Security

The data protection capability of "Scramble Memory" is not limited to the state saved in storage, but achieves thorough security also in the process where data passes through circuits and networks.

(1) Measures Against Circuit Interception

Against bus sniffing attacks that intercept and analyze signals flowing through circuits and buses inside electronic equipment, it makes the legitimate integration order impossible to analyze by randomizing the order of recording and transmission and mixing in dummy data.

(2) Measures Against Man-in-the-Middle Attacks

When transferring and mirroring data to cloud storage or similar destinations, it blocks man-in-the-middle attacks through rearranging the recording order and mixing in dummy data.

(3) Device Authentication Using PUF Technology

Implementation of PUF technology utilizing physical individual differences of semiconductor chips is possible.
By linking encryption keys and Seeds to physical characteristics unique to chips, it achieves robust device authentication that is impossible to replicate or spoof.

Use Cases of "Scramble Memory"

(1) External Recording Storage Such as NAS

In external data storage environments such as NAS where important corporate data is concentrated, "Scramble Memory" achieves an advanced storage environment that does not permit deciphering even against theft of the main unit or unauthorized removal.
It operates on general-purpose CPUs or dedicated chips inside NAS, executes encrypted splitting and Hashchain generation when storing data, and saves it in a distributed manner along with dummy data.
Because the Seed required for combining is completely isolated into a secure area, even if the NAS unit itself is carried out or a single drive is pulled out, data restoration outside is impossible.
Furthermore, when transferring to cloud storage as a backup, it mirrors by reordering data and mixing dummy data without leaving meta information, so consistent safety can be guaranteed also on transmission paths and on the cloud.

(2) Use Case in IoT, Physical AI, and Edge Devices

In the edge device field including drones, robots, and various sensor devices, it prevents data leakage accompanying physical loss or misplacement.
Through ultra-fast verification processing of less than 1ms, it follows without interfering with writing processing of sensor data generated in real time.
Even if drones or robots are leaked or recovered due to accidents or trouble on site, data inside the storage media is completely protected and will never leak to the outside.
In addition, in communication processes between edge devices and base units, performing verification combined with Seed information effectively blocks unauthorized access such as communication content tampering by third parties, unauthorized data insertion, and spoofing.

(3) Use Case in External Data Sharing and Disposal

It is applicable to a wide range of business processes, from server environments requiring advanced confidentiality to safe data collaboration with external parties and equipment disposal.
Even if the inside of a server is intruded upon or storage is directly scanned, stored data is nothing more than a disordered array holding no meta information and cannot be deciphered without the isolated Seed.
When safely sharing data externally, passing through the "Scramble Memory" cloud platform and transferring after re-encrypting with the recipient's public key and converting into a Hashchain on the sending side provides a safe data sharing infrastructure replacing hand delivery or conventional file sharing.
Furthermore, when disposing of equipment, the process is completed simply by erasing the Seed stored in the secure area, transitioning to a completely unrecoverable state instantly regardless of data size, thereby significantly reducing operational costs such as physical destruction work or erasure work using dedicated software.