FICS' System to Detect Compromised Hardware

The Florida Institute for Cybersecurity Research (FICS), the same group who developed the "Skim Reaper" (#SkimReaper) a device that can detect payment card skimmers, has engineered a semi-automated system to detect other kinds of subverted hardware like the servers purchased by Amazon, Apple, and others from Super Micro alleged to be compromised by a rice-sized Chinese micro-chip used to spy on the equipment.

According to Mark M. Tehranipoor, the director of FICS and an IEEE Fellow, his institute's system uses "optical scans, microscopy, X-ray tomography, and artificial intelligence to compare a printed circuit board and its chips and components with the intended design."

A semiautomated system built by the Florida Institute for Cybersecurity Research can detect illicit chips and other modifications made by a manufacturer that weren’t part of the original design. https://t.co/4zVEpNvs1g pic.twitter.com/jT9ZtMwRki

— IEEE Spectrum (@IEEESpectrum) October 5, 2018