Hardware Podcasts

Ep. 28 | How DARPA Stops IC Hardware Hackers in Their Tracks: Insights from Serge Leef

Moore's Lobby · 24 Aug 2021 · 1h 01m · Episode 1

What this episode covers

Serge Leef, DARPA’s Program Manager for the Microsystems Technology Office, discusses his transition from a 30-year career in design automation at companies like Mentor Graphics and Silicon Graphics to leading hardware security initiatives at DARPA. He outlines DARPA’s four attack surfaces for secure silicon—supply chain, side-channel, reverse engineering, and hardware Trojans—and explains the agency's strategy of embedding security into design tools, likening it to fluoridating water. Leef highlights the economic realities of hardware security, noting that while merchant semiconductor companies invest heavily in bespoke protection, IoT manufacturers often ignore it until forced by crisis, and emphasizes the critical vulnerability of untrusted third-party IP.

Most relevant to

large enterprises

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
DARPA, Mentor Graphics, Silicon Graphics, Intel, Synopsys, ARM, Infineon Technologies
Products
ACE

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