Hardware Trojan Identification and Avoidance in Digital Integrated Circuits

Abstract

Digital integrated circuits (ICs) are becoming more complicated, and their manufacture has become more globalised. This has made ICs vulnerable to security risks, especially from hardware Trojans, which are malicious insertions. This work addresses the growing problems related to compromised chip integrity by exploring the crucial problem of hardware Trojan identification and prevention within digital integrated circuits. The first section of the study examines the many kinds of hardware Trojans, their possible effects on system security, and the difficulties in identifying them in the IC design and manufacturing stages. Subsequently, it provides a comprehensive examination of current detection methodologies, encompassing both static and dynamic approaches, highlighting their advantages and disadvantages.  Additionally, the research investigates emerging technologies such as physically unclonable functions (PUFs) and their role in enhancing Trojan detection capabilities. In the prevention aspect, the study introduces novel countermeasures to fortify digital ICs against Trojan insertions, considering both design and post-fabrication strategies. These countermeasures encompass obfuscation techniques, trust-based design principles, and secure design-for-testability methodologies. Furthermore, the research explores the integration of hardware Trojan detection and prevention mechanisms within a holistic security framework for digital ICs. Comprehensive simulations and experiments are used to assess the efficacy of the suggested approaches, taking into account a variety of hardware Trojan situations and attack pathways. The results offer a thorough grasp of the practical consequences of the suggested detection and prevention strategies for safeguarding digital integrated circuits against hardware Trojans, as well as insightful information about how resilient and reliable they are in real-world implementations. This study adds to the continuous endeavours to strengthen digital ICs' credibility in a time of growing cybersecurity risks.