Preventing A $500 Attack Destroying Your IoT Devices


Internet of Things (IoT) smart devices numbering in the billions and connected via the internet are increasingly vital to society and the global economy. However, the very “connectedness” that makes IoT devices so valuable can be turned to an enormous liability if these devices are left unprotected from security-related threats. This paper explores the threat environment faced by, and the c... » read more

Common Weakness Enumeration


Understanding potential design vulnerabilities up front can help prevent future cyberattacks. Jason Oberg, CTO at Tortuga Logic, talks with Semiconductor Engineering about why CWE is so important, when it needs to be considered, and why no hardware design is completely bulletproof. » read more

Research Bits: March 22


Securing wireless communications without encryption Researchers from Princeton University, University of Michigan–Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Institute, and Xi’an Jiaotong University developed a millimeter-wave wireless chip that allows secure wireless transmissions and makes it challenging to eavesdrop on high-frequency wireless transmissions, even with multiple colluding bad acto... » read more

Navigating The Intersection Of Safety And Security


Vehicle systems and the semiconductors used within them are some of the most complex electronics seen today. In the past, electronics going into vehicle systems implemented flat architectures with isolated functions controlling various components of the power train and vehicle dynamics. However, to support the realization of Level 4 and Level 5 (L4/L5) autonomous driving, a massive restructure ... » read more

Verifying Side-Channel Security Pre-Silicon


As security grows in importance, side-channel attacks pose a unique challenge because they rely on physical phenomena that aren’t always modeled for the design verification process. While everything can be hacked, the goal is to make it so difficult that an attacker concludes it isn't worth the effort. For side-channel attacks, the pre-silicon design is the best place to address any known ... » read more

DPA Countermeasures Done Right


In the late nineties, Paul Kocher, Josh Jaffe, and Ben Jun published a paper that caused many across industry sectors to reconsider what cryptographic implementations should look like. They described an exploit wherein an adversary could extract secrets from a device by analyzing the power consumption or electromagnetic emittance from the device when it was executing cryptographic operations. S... » read more

Hardware Security Optimization With MITRE CWE


Whether you’re just starting to build out a hardware security program at your organization, or you’re looking to optimize existing hardware security processes, the MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) database is an excellent resource to keep in your toolbox. What is CWE? A CWE is a type of vulnerability, or flaw, in the design of either hardware or software in embedded systems. Indi... » read more

Manufacturing Cyber Security


Designers and manufacturers worldwide are concerned about manufacturing cyber security and design data when using additive manufacturing technology. This whitepaper from Identify3D discusses how digital product data is shared during the additive manufacturing workflow and how that data might be better secured. Using products from Identify3D and Siemens, the entire additive manufacturing data ch... » read more

Meet Both Security And Safety Needs In New Automotive SoCs


With advances in hardware and software, smart vehicles are improving with every generation. Capabilities that once seemed far-off and futuristic—from automatic braking to self-driving features—are now either standard or within reach. However, as vehicle architectures evolve, the ways that both security and safety can be addressed at the system-on-chip (SoC) level also must evolve. Cars a... » read more

Improving PPA In Complex Designs With AI


The goal of chip design always has been to optimize power, performance, and area (PPA), but results can vary greatly even with the best tools and highly experienced engineering teams. Optimizing PPA involves a growing number of tradeoffs that can vary by application, by availability of IP and other components, as well as the familiarity of engineers with different tools and methodologies. Fo... » read more

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