Ernest Worthman

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Ernest Worthman is Technology Editor/Security for Semiconductor Engineering.

Author's Latest Posts

Quantum Cryptography: A Magic Bullet For The IoT?
By Ernest Worthman - 04 Sep, 2014 - Comments: 0

Quantum cryptography (QC for this discussion) theory—and it is still just theory—is potentially a very powerful security process that could be implemented for the dissemination of information over communications channels, using the principles of quantum mechanics. This is particularly intriguing because it is impossible to measure a photon, the fundamental element in the creation of QC secu... » read more

Malicious Code In The IoT
By Ernest Worthman - 04 Sep, 2014 - Comments: 0

Fundamentally, malicious code families are initially comprised of one or more distinct malicious code samples. For clarity, malicious code is, globally used as an umbrella term for all types of malevolent program code. However, for this article, the term is being applied to static code and not morphing codes, which were discussed in a previous article. This discussion focuses on the type of mal... » read more

What Can You Trust In The IoT?
By Ernest Worthman - 04 Aug, 2014 - Comments: 0

Most of us on the bleeding edge of technology are aware that the Internet of Things/Everything and the Cloud of Things (IoT/E), (CoT), are slowly becoming less fuzzy. No one knows exactly what the model ultimately will look like, but it is becoming clearer and clearer that it won’t be radically different than the Internet we have today—just more objects, more interconnects, more autonomy, a... » read more

Why Every Chip Can Be Hacked With This Tool
By Ernest Worthman - 04 Aug, 2014 - Comments: 0

As explained by Darth Vader in the classic Star Wars saga, the line between good and evil can be very thin. What is sometimes developed for the benefit technology, in the hands of the wrong people, can be devastating. That may seem a bit melodramatic when it comes to discussions around focused ion beam (FIB) applications in semiconductors, but the analogy is quite real. Focused ion beam tec... » read more

Defending Against Reverse Engineering
By Ernest Worthman - 04 Aug, 2014 - Comments: 0

Most of us are familiar with the term “reverse engineering.” We generally know that it is used to extract data or designs from chips, but exactly how is pretty much a mystery. Today, chip security has very broad implications. The landscape of tomorrow will be cluttered with devices that are microprocessor-controlled, including some that are autonomous. Numbers vary, but the current esti... » read more

White Hat Hacking
By Ernest Worthman - 04 Aug, 2014 - Comments: 0

At first glance, the words “reverse engineering” (RE) might conjure up a couple of nefarious individuals with table full of tools, meters, and the like, in some basement trying to figure out how to disassemble some sort of electronic device. The image is wrong, however. More likely, today’s RE work will be found in a clandestine, well-funded uber-laboratory in an up-and-coming third-wo... » read more

Locking Down The Chip
By Ernest Worthman - 09 Jul, 2014 - Comments: 0

The push toward securing chips is complicated by the amount of third-party IP that is being used inside of today’s complex SoCs. This has cast new light on the potential for on-chip networks to also function in securing signals that flow through those networks. This becomes particularly important with the Internet of Things, because the source of those signals isn’t always obvious to the... » read more

R-FPGA Security Risks
By Ernest Worthman - 07 Jul, 2014 - Comments: 0

Configurable chips have been around for a long time. Modern FPGAs, E/EEPROMS and other types of programmable memory have allowed us some flexibility in changing chip functionality in the field. But really, this is static reprogramming and requires a process and procedure. Moreover, it needs to done by knowledgeable programmers, either on site or remotely. But the fact remains that field re-prog... » read more

Threat Intelligence
By Ernest Worthman - 07 Jul, 2014 - Comments: 0

The new buzz phrase in security is threat intelligence, a pre-emptive approach that combines forward-thinking, real-time awareness with both reactive and pre-emptive threat analysis philosophies. “The principle purpose of threat intelligence is to inform decision making and mitigate risk,” says Adam Vincent, Founder, and CEO of Cyber Squared, in Arlington, Va. While specific definitions ... » read more

Programmable Risk Factors
By Ernest Worthman - 07 Jul, 2014 - Comments: 0

The semiconductor industry is starting to come around to the realization that security begins at the block level. Intellectual property (IP) is being seen with IP blocks that can be woven into the general-purpose system-on-chip (SoC) hardware layers to secure I/O, data, keys, and various other sensitive or critical information. But modifying hardware designs in response to the demands placed... » read more

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