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This Year’s Holiday Puzzle: Find The Trojan Horse

By Sergio Marchese, OneSpin Solutions

The challenge reflects real-world problem of trust in hardware designs.

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The term “Trojan horse” is widely used, but it’s likely that not everyone knows the story behind this metaphor. It refers to an ancient legend about a giant wooden horse that contained a most unpleasant surprise for its recipients. In general usage, the term refers to anything dangerous that lurks within a seemingly innocent disguise. The electronics hardware design community is increasingly worried about Trojan horses that might be hiding within an IP or SoC design. Security risks of a malicious agent exploiting an unintended design vulnerability are bad enough, but the specter of a deliberate Trojan is even scarier. A hardware Trojan is engineered to cause major damage in response to a trigger known by the attacker. It could expose “secure” data, cause serious product malfunction, or even destroy a chip.

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