Week In Review: Auto, Security, Pervasive Computing


Automotive, mobility The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to change the regulations on event data recorders (EDRs) to extend the EDR recording period for “timed data metrics from 5 seconds of pre-crash data at a frequency of 2 Hz to 20 seconds of pre-crash data at a frequency of 10 Hz... » read more

Chips Can Boost Malware Immunity


Security is becoming an increasingly important design element, fueled by increasingly sophisticated attacks, the growing use of technology in safety-critical applications, and the rising value of data nearly everywhere. Hackers can unlock automobiles, phones, and smart locks by exploiting system design soft spots. They even can hack some mobile phones through always-on circuits when they are... » read more

Chip Substitutions Raising Security Concerns


Substituting chips is becoming more common in the electronics industry as shortages drag on, allowing systems vendors to continue selling everything from cars to manufacturing equipment and printer cartridges without waiting for a commoditized part. But substitutions aren't always an even swap, and they increase security risks in ways that may take years to show up or fully understand. So fa... » read more

Building A Robust Hardware Security Program


Even mature chip development teams and processes aren’t immune to security errors. While many semiconductor and hardware manufacturing organizations have mature development processes, existing security testing practices, and formal signoff requirements, the complexity and duration of the chip lifecycle creates many opportunities for security issues to be overlooked. Semiconductors now play... » read more

Protecting ICs Against Specific Threats


Identifying potential vulnerabilities and attack vectors is a first step in addressing them. Anders Nordstrom, security application engineer at Tortuga Logic, talks with Semiconductor Engineering about the growing risk of remote hardware attacks, what to do when a chip is hacked, and where to find the most common weaknesses for chips. » read more

Building Security Into ICs From The Ground Up


Cyberattacks are becoming more frequent and more sophisticated, but they also are starting to compromise platforms that until recently were considered unbreakable. Consider blockchains, for example, which were developed as secure, distributed ledger platforms. All of them must be updated with the same data for a transaction to proceed. But earlier this year a blockchain bridge platform calle... » read more

Ensuring Security By Design Is Actually Secure


Today’s connected systems touch nearly every part of consumers’ lives, from smart thermostats in our homes to self-driving cars on our roads. The adoption of these new devices has led to an explosion of new semiconductors and use models. But these novel conveniences also come with new risks. With vulnerabilities on the rise and the potential for remote attacks growing, product companies mus... » read more

3 Steps To Capturing Effective Hardware Security Requirements


As hardware vulnerabilities continue to rise, it’s increasingly crucial for those developing semiconductors to reduce consumer and business risk by establishing comprehensive security programs. These should include a systematic process for developing security requirements, verifying them at scale throughout the design process, and producing final documentation for security signoff before tape... » 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

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

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