Design methods for Security and Trust

Abstract

The design of ubiquitous and embedded computers focuses on cost factors such as area, power-consumption, and performance. Security and trust properties, on the other hand, are often an afterthought. Yet the purpose of ubiquitous electronics is to act and negotiate on their owner s behalf, and this makes trust a first-order concern. We outline a methodology for the design of secure and trusted electronic embedded systems, which builds on identifying the secure-sensitive part of a system (the root-of-trust) and iteratively partitioning and protecting that root-of-trust over all levels of design abstraction. This includes protocols, software, hardware, and circuits. We review active research in the area of secure design methodologies