Initiative forms around anti-counterfeiting technology

SAN FRANCISCO—A group of electronics firms Tuesday (May 18) announced the formation of a security initiative around a technology designed to combat electronics counterfeiting.

The Hardware Intrinsic Security (HIS) Initiative is organized by Intrinsic-ID BV, a Dutch-based security IP vendor that spun out of Royal Philips Electronics in 2008. The founding members of HIS include Cisco Systems Inc., Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp., NXP Semiconductors, Virage Logic Corp. , IMEC, SiVenture and Irdeto Access B.V.

According to Intrinsic-ID (Eindhoven, The Netherlands), HIS technology has been production proven by Philips and successfully taped out multiple times. The technology is now being deployed for smart cards by NXP.

Daniel Schobben Intrinsic-ID

Unlike other electronics security technologies, HIS does not use a key stored on the device, which can be vulnerable to hackers, according to Daniel Schobben, Intrinsic-ID's CEO. Instead, HIS technology exploits the unique "electronic fingerprint" found on each semiconductor, Schobben said.

"It's very different from what is being used today, where people write unique codes into each device which can be copied," Schobben said. "It's actually easy to make a lot of devices with the same unique code."

Electronics counterfeiting is on the rise, with semiconductor industry insiders saying counterfeiters are growing increasingly more sophisticated. According to consulting firm KPMG, 10 percent of all electronics sold are counterfeit. A recent report by the U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security found that the counterfeiting of electronic components continues to rise despite increased efforts at corporate and governmental levels to fight the crime, with 9,356 reports of counterfeit parts in 2008, up 142 percent from 2005.

"You can use this [HIS technology] to make counterfeiting a thing of the past," Schobben said.

In a statement released Tuesday, the HIS Initiative said it would develop an educational agenda with supporting deliverables aimed at reducing barriers to adoption of HIS solutions. The goal of the initiative is to facilitate collaborative projects where members contribute their time, expertise and brand to further the adoption of HIS as a means to reduce counterfeiting and theft-of-service, the group said. All members are advisors with no fees associated, the HIS Initiative said.