New Lock Aims To End Chip Piracy

Stony Stevenson writes "Pirated microchips based on stolen blueprints could soon be a thing of the past thanks to computer engineers at Rice University and the University of Michigan. The engineers have devised a way to head off this costly infringement by giving each chip its own unique lock and key. The patent holder would hold the keys, and the chip would securely communicate with the patent holder to unlock itself. The chip could operate only after being unlocked. The Ending Piracy of Integrated Circuits (Epic) technique relies on established cryptography methods, and introduces subtle changes into the chip design process without affecting performance or power consumption. With Epic protection enabled, each integrated circuit would be manufactured with a few extra switches that behave like a combination lock."

Comments

Re:Sure, great idea

[bkaul01]

It doesn't sound like this is a consumer-level activation, but a one-time, manufacturer-side process:

To activate a chip, the manufacturer would plug it in and let it contact the patent owner over an ordinary phone line or internet connection. It's intended to protect against overseas subcontractors who have access to the blueprints making extras and then going and selling them on the black market, behind the patent-holder's back. So, the overseas company would make it, ship it back to the company who owns the rights to it, where it would be activated before being distributed. The outsourced manufacturing company wouldn't have the ability to activate them, so couldn't sell extras to the black market.

Re:This is dumb. I can crack it in two seconds.

[DCBoland]

I know this is /. but I took the time to find the actual paper, they cover the typical attacks on the security mechanism quite thoroughly. Apparently its very difficult to scan a mask, especially at the small scales the industry deals in today - they suggest it would be cheaper to simply design the chip yourself.

(Off-topic: the anti-spam mechanism atm gives an interesting result for my email address..."'poo' in gap" oO)