Writing for Semiconductor Engineering, Ernest Worthman describes the challenge of securing chips as a “foot race” between the good and bad guys. “Going forward, expect heavily funded, grouped efforts to place tremendous pressure on security envelopes,” Worthman explains.
Security
Microsemi targets security sector with Rambus cryptography tech
Rambus’s Cryptography Research Division (CRD) has entered into a partnership with Microsemi to resell a number of advanced security technologies developed by the DPA product engineering team at CRD. According to Michael Mehlberg, Senior Director of Business Development for Government Solutions at Rambus CRD, a recently signed reseller agreement includes both the DPA WorkStation™ and DPA Resistant Suite B cryptographic cores.
Cyber attack shatters the digital-physical barrier
Writing for Wired, Kim Zetter reports that a recent cyber intrusion in Germany marked the second confirmed case in which a (wholly) digital attack caused physical destruction of equipment. “The first case, of course, was Stuxnet,” Zetter explained. “That attack was discovered in 2010 and since then experts have warned that it was only a matter of time before other destructive attacks would occur.”
Are stacked die creating new security risks?
Writing for Semiconductor Engineering, Ernest Worthman notes that while stacked die may improve performance and lower power, the use of through-silicon vias (TSVs) could potentially add new security risks. “With 2.5D architectures, IP blocks can be designed on separate dies and assembled using an interposer. Such a chip can have a stacked DRAM, a Wi-Fi radio and flash memory, together with the processor in a single package,” Worthman explained.
The 2025 security UX
It’s a chilly, overcast winter day in Seattle. Freezing rain drizzles from trademark gray skies, pattering gently against the glass windows of a local coffee shop. Sitting alone at a dimly lit table, Mia takes one last sip of espresso from a worn, chipped mug before donning her glasses and jacking into a Virtual Security Dock (VSD).
What’s worse than a password?
Did you know that a September 2015 US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) system breach resulted in 5.6 million leaked fingerprints?
“We’ve all seen movies that included a clever way to get someone’s fingerprints, and I never thought much about it,” Jimmy Pike, an analyst Moor Insights & Strategy, wrote in Forbes. “Now a huge number of these biometric signatures are in the dark side of society.”
