Chipmakers adopt pre-silicon security verification methods

Semiconductor designers are increasingly adopting pre-silicon security verification to address threats that target hardware. While chip safety standards are well established, security features are being integrated earlier in the design process to prevent both external control of systems and breaches of private information. This shift comes amid growing concerns that malicious actors, including AI-powered agents, could exploit hardware vulnerabilities for attacks or data theft.

• Designers add security verification before chip manufacturing
• Threats include both external control and data breaches
• Hardware-level attacks are rising alongside advanced software threats
• AI-driven attacks raise urgency for secure silicon design