Deep Dive Into Hardware Security Verification At This Year’s Osmosis User Group

We’ve been talking for months about how to successfully verify designs to avoid security weaknesses and vulnerabilities. In the upcoming Osmosis (OneSpin Meeting on Solution, Innovation & Strategy) user group event, attendees will get to hear first-hand from one of our most ardent users how they were able to secure their hardware design.

The two-day, virtual event on November 3rd and 4th will dive deep into the formal technology that enables early security verification. In the presentation “Verification for a More Secure Tomorrow” presented by John Hallman, Product Manager for Trust & Security, special attention will be given to the topic of cyberattacks on the supply chain and the underlying hardware including integrated circuits (ICs). Compared to software, ICs are much more difficult and costly to patch once fielded—therefore, early identification of potential vulnerabilities is increasingly important.

John will discuss the OneSpin 360 formal verification tools and methods for early security verification on both modules of intellectual property (IP) intended for integration into an IC and on the IC itself. He’ll show how these methods fit into broader standards efforts and other related work amongst the Siemens team (oh yeah, if you haven’t heard, OneSpin is now OneSpin: A Siemens Business). With the cooperative efforts from all these teams, we will achieve better security practices early and throughout development, manufacturing, and integration – in turn making our end products and systems more secure for end customers.

Sandia National Laboratories will continue the discussion with an exploration of how they used OneSpin in their security verification efforts. Vivian Guzman Kammler, Technical Program Lead, Embedded Systems Analysis at Sandia will present a case study “Evaluating Capabilities for Assurance of Third-Party Intellectual Property.” Vivian points out that high levels of verification rigor and analyzability are sacrosanct when designing high-consequence systems abiding by always-never principles. Reliance on third-party suppliers to meet mission objectives must be balanced with the provision of data artifacts and introspection for assurance, safety, and security. Ms. Kammler’s team was tasked to evaluate the state of commercial capabilities for assurance of third-party intellectual property. During this session, she will share how OneSpin utilities fit into this evaluation and opportunities to further support programs facing these assurance challenges.

Of course, the event will cover other formal verification topics beyond security such as functional correctness and safety as well as a wide array of user experiences. The event will host keynote sessions by our Siemens leadership that will answer the burning questions of what the OneSpin acquisition by Siemens means for formal and what the vision is for addressing future design challenges with formal technology. For more on these topics, see our complete blog on Osmosis in the Systems & Design section of Semiconductor Engineering.

Users of OneSpin can learn more about and register for Osmosis at www.onespin.com/osmosis-2021.

For those folks that aren’t yet OneSpin users, you can view last year’s Osmosis videos at www.onespin.com/resources/videos/osmosis-2020.