Secure and Trusted SoC: Challenges and Emerging Solutions

Abstract – Over the ages, hardware components, platforms and supply chains have been considered secure and trustworthy. However, recent discoveries and reports on security vulnerabilities and attacks in microchips and circuits violate this hardware root of trust. System-on-Chip (SoC) design based on reusable hardware intellectual property (IP) is now a pervasive design practice in the industry due to the dramatic reduction in design/verification cost and time. This growing reliance on reusable pre-verified hardware IPs and design automation tools that are often acquired from untrusted third party vendors severely affects the security and trustworthiness of SoCs, particularly when coupled with fabrication in untrusted offshore foundries. This paper presents an overview of the various security challenges in the SoC design cycle and possible solutions for protection