Citadel: A Simple Fix for Rowhammer Attacks

Ever thought about how computers remember things? They use what's called memory, which is like a big library. In this library, there are shelves (rows) with books (bits of data). Some attacks, like Rowhammer, can cause trouble by making the books fall over and change their information. This can be a big problem for computer security. One way to solve this is with something called error-correcting codes (ECC). These act like librarians who check and fix the books if they fall over. The issue with ECC is that it can be slow and needs special hardware, making it hard to use in older systems. But now, there's a new method called Citadel. It's like having a magic shield that protects your library. Even if a few books fall over, the rest stay safe. The best part? Citadel works on old, new, and future systems without needing any special hardware. It does use a bit more memory, about 7. 4%, but that's a small price to pay for security. Other methods can use up to six times more memory and aren't as flexible. So, Citadel seems like a great choice for protecting our computer systems from Rowhammer attacks. It's affordable, fast, and works on any system.