A. Crouch, J. Doege, M. Schmitt
Amida Technology Solutions, Inc., District of Columbia, United States
Keywords: Microelectronics, Machine Learning, Operational Technology
National Security depends on the integrity and cyber-resilience of microelectronics underpinning critical infrastructure and Systems-of-Systems (SoS). The ever-increasing use of microelectronic components across vital security and infrastructure sectors exposes a broad attack surface, as adversarial attacks look to exploit software and hardware vulnerabilities. The semiconductor supply chain faces vulnerability from design to manufacturing, outpacing the capabilities of existing security approaches focused on known threats. This vulnerability necessitates comprehensive assessment of semiconductor vulnerabilities to harden designs against current and future attack scenarios. Under NAVY SBIR (SBIR N171-054), Amida developed a patented (Patent 11736501), forward-looking approach to address microelectronic security through a novel application of graph theory and artificial intelligence. Amida’s microelectronics security solution, Achilles, reveals vulnerabilities in hardware design source code exploitable via hardware or software attacks. Achilles conducts graph-based design analysis, illuminating the entire semiconductor attack surface, predicting vulnerabilities which can be exploited through hardware or software. Achilles shows where hardening and instrumentation should be placed in the design. This instrumentation supports behavioral analysis, physical data collection and machine learning solutions that detect anomalous behavior and provide monitoring of deployed systems. Achilles addresses vulnerabilities in microelectronics, enabling a cyber-resilient semiconductor supply chain to counter complex threats to cyber-physical systems.