Concerns about electronic hardware and supply chain security have received a tremendous amount of attention over the past decade or so. Although researchers have offered solutions and security mechanisms to mitigate the issues, they do not still evaluate their effectiveness in a systematic manner. Some research is still being carried out in an ad-hoc fashion where the published results rely on figures of merit that limit objective cross-field comparisons. However, this has become vital as system-on-chips (SoCs) become pervasive in virtually every application (mobile, internet of things (IoT), and critical systems). This project aims to build platforms to validate benchmarks, develop tools and metrics to validate SoC security, and create a web-portal to disseminate and promote research and development in securing electronics devices and systems. The intellectual merits of this project include development of (i) a comprehensive SoC vulnerability database, (ii) a comprehensive set of metrics based on the vulnerability database, (iii) SoC security validation tool suite, and (iv) SoC benchmarking. This project leads a community-wide framework, called the Trust-Hub, toward stronger assurances in SoCs, computational platforms, and the electronics supply chain. Based on the demonstrated success of information sharing, Trust-Hub will serve as an important web-based repository for benchmarks, tools, databases, platforms, evaluation software, source codes, and much more.
The results will interest major semiconductor companies, US government agencies and university researchers worldwide. The broader impacts include benefits to the society by building secure and trustworthy electronic devices and systems for healthcare, defense, military, space, finance, transportation, automotive and other critical applications. The scientific results will be presented to the hardware and electronics security community, and to semiconductor companies and government agencies. Students will use the benchmarks and tools in the annual competitions. Finally, this project will support development of a workforce who understand the much-needed protection of electronics supply chain and intellectual property (IP).
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
