Helsinki System Security Lab (HSSL) Internship (1H/2025 or summer 2025)

Enclaves: Non-volatile memory with software for secure enclave

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Secure enclaves provide a practical solution to secure computation, and current approaches to secure enclaves are implemented by extending hardware security mechanisms to the CPU architecture. Data confidentiality is one of the biggest concerns when deploying a secure enclave. Thanks to the trusted execution environment (TEE), it is feasible to build encrypted databases in the enclave that can process customers' data while keeping it confidential to the cloud. Though some enclave-based encrypted databases emerge recently, there remains a large unexplored area in between about how confidentiality can be achieved in different ways and what influences are implied by them.

We are seeking a Master’s student for a thesis-based internship focusing on “Enclaves: Non-volatile memory with software for secure enclave”. The project aims to create a novel way to establish a non-volatile data storage mechanism for a secure enclave. The mechanism should provide all the security, integrity and confidentiality guarantees that state of the art TEEs provides with the added feature of being transparent to the enclave software engineer, no more complex GP (Global Platform APIs), no more difficult to use, difficult to understand cryptographic APIs.

The work should combine an exploration of possible design choices, rendering trade-offs in security, performance and functionality and a practical Proof-of-Concept for an existing secure enclave technology.

The internship is well-suited also to Master’s thesis work.

We are looking for:

• Students who have completed most of their M.Sc. courses, in the field of CS/E.Eng
• Experience on programming languages such as C, C++, Python, or Rust.
• Familiarity with secure enclave/TEE technologies.
• Sufficient skills to work and interact in English
• Good team-working skills
• Students with interest to do research and explore new challenges

The following we count as advantage:

• Knowledge of the ARM architecture and of ARM CCA or another virtualization technology.
• An interest to do research and explore new challenges.

Location and internship period: This is a 6-month internship based at our Helsinki, Ruoholahti office.

The Helsinki Systems Security Laboratory in Huawei Finland (HSSL) drives renewal and mastery in the field of platform / device related security technologies for the mobile device. Our topical expertise lies in hardware-assisted isolation and system protection (hypervisor, TEE, kernel hardening) as well as functions like device key management, attestation and integrity.