Deep Learning Based Approach for Hardware Trojan Detection

Hardware Trojans are modifications made by malicious insiders or third party providers during the design or fabrication phase of the IC (Integrated Circuits) design cycle in a covert manner. These cause catastrophic consequences ranging from manipulating the functionality of individual blocks to disabling the entire chip. Thus, a need for detecting trojans becomes necessary. In this work, we propose a deep learning based approach for detecting trojans in IC chips. In particular, we insert trojans at the circuit-level and generate data by measuring power during normal operation and under attack. Further, we develop deep learning models using Neural networks and Auto-encoders to analyze datasets for outlier detection by profiling the normal behavior and leveraging them to detect anomalies in power consumption. Our approach is generic and non-invasive in that it can be applied to any block without any modifications to the design. Evaluation of the proposed approach shows an accuracy ranging from 92.23% to 99.33% in detecting trojans.