DARPA Sponsors a Hunt For Malware In Microchips

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

________________________________________
From: ' =JeffH ' [Jeff.Hodges () KingsMountain com]
Sent: Friday, May 02, 2008 9:37 PM
To: David Farber
Subject: fyi: DARPA Sponsors a Hunt For Malware In Microchips

DARPA Sponsors a Hunt For Malware In Microchips
slashdot.org/palm/18/08/05/01/1233244_1.shtml

DARPA Sponsors a Hunt For Malware In Microchips

from the double-barreled-microscope-loaded-for-vermin dept. posted by timothy
on 2008-05-01 13:23:00

Phurge links to an IEEE Spectrum story on an interesting DARPA project with
some scary implications about just what it is we don't know about what chips
are doing under the surface. It's a difficult problem to find invasive or
otherwise malicious capabilities built into a CPU; this project's goal is to
see whether vendors can find such hardware-level spyware in chips

http://spectrum.ieee.org/may08/6171

 like those used in military hardware. Phurge excerpts: "Recognizing this
enormous vulnerability, the DOD recently launched its most ambitious program
yet to verify the integrity of the electronics that will underpin future
additions to its arsenal. ... In January, the Trust program started its
prequalifying rounds by sending to three contractors four identical versions
of a chip that contained unspecified malicious circuitry. The teams have until
the end of this month to ferret out as many of the devious insertions as they
can."

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