{"id":21679,"date":"2017-08-24T12:41:26","date_gmt":"2017-08-24T16:41:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/?p=21679"},"modified":"2019-03-12T12:35:31","modified_gmt":"2019-03-12T16:35:31","slug":"nyu-abu-dhabi-unhackable-computer-chip-technology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/nyu-abu-dhabi-unhackable-computer-chip-technology\/","title":{"rendered":"NYU Abu Dhabi Researchers Develop New \u2018Logic-Locked\u2019 Unhackable Computer Chip Technology"},"content":{"rendered":"

Researchers at New York University Abu Dhabi\u2019s (NYUAD) Design for Excellence (Dfx) lab have <\/span>developed <\/span><\/a>a new unhackable computer chip technology with security features implemented at the hardware level. Chips that are \u201clogic-locked\u201d are not vulnerable to hacking, and cannot be copied. <\/span><\/p>\n

Cyber security attacks have become rampant over the past 20 years. In the digital age, computer chips are everywhere. They are in phones, cars, medical devices, and airplanes, and are applicable in nearly every industry. Logic-locking technology can be used in any digital chip, so it could potentially make all electronics trustworthy. <\/span><\/p>\n

To further understand the implications of this revolutionary technology, The University Network spoke with <\/span>Ozgur Sinanoglu<\/span><\/a>, NYUAD\u2019s Associate Dean of Engineering for Academic Affairs, Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Head of Dfx.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the first working prototype of a chip that has security features (i.e., locks) implemented as part of its hardware design,\u201d said Sinanoglu.<\/span><\/p>\n

For the first time, a chip is protected from hardware-level threats.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Until now, technology security methods have only been used at the software or system levels. This is problematic because there is no way to recover or fix software \u00a0if the hardware is infiltrated, thus making software security methods pointless. This new technology locks the hardware and only permits access to those who know the \u201csecret key.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWithout the secret key, the chips cannot be made functional,\u201d Sinanoglu said. \u201cSomeone who reverse-engineers the chip to obtain the hardware design details to, say, copy\/clone it, will not be able to retrieve all the design information as the locks in the design serve obfuscation purposes as well. Depending on the secret key, the chip could be implementing one of billions of different functionalities. The functionality of chip (what it does, how it does it, etc) can only be known if the secret key is known.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n