Security Concerns Weigh Down Open-Source EDA


Open-source EDA tools are free, readily available, and growing in numbers, but many chipmakers are wary of using them due to security concerns. On the plus side, proponents say these tools can help attract fresh new talent to chip design. Yet despite their spread online — GitHub alone has more than 140 EDA-specific repositories — using visible source code can provide new avenues of attac... » read more

SolarWinds Attack Is A Cautionary Tale For Hardware And Its Supply Chain


The recent SolarWinds hacking incident that left many Fortune-500 companies and US government networks exposed is an interesting cautionary tale for unchecked software and hardware supply chain security vulnerabilities. The highly sophisticated software supply chain attack occurred in the SolarWinds Orion IT monitoring system. This system, used by over 33,000 companies, monitors performance acr... » read more

Security Breaches And The Defensive Mindset


Over the Christmas break, the biggest security breach ever came to light. It is assumed to be instigated by a foreign entity. The breach is known mostly as SolarWinds. SolarWinds produces network management software called Orion that is used by...well, almost everyone. The attackers inserted a backdoor into an Orion software update. You know how the operating system on your PC or Mac gets autom... » read more