Topic: Hardware Security and Trust

In today's rapidly advancing digital era, the security and trustworthiness of hardware have become more critical than ever as they face new demands and unprecedented threats. The current threat landscape revolves around complex integrated circuits, which are key components of any smart system. An urgent need exists for enhanced security measures to mitigate risks associated with compromised hardware in our interconnected digital world. The proliferation of interconnected devices, ranging from embedded systems to cloud infrastructure, necessitates a comprehensive understanding of vulnerabilities that could compromise the confidentiality and integrity of sensitive data. Security vulnerabilities can arise at various stages, underscoring the need for robust physical security measures, including tamper-resistant designs and secure key storage mechanisms. This Special Issue titled "Hardware Security and Trust" aims to target the latest advancements, challenges, and breakthroughs in ensuring the integrity and security of hardware systems.

This Special Issue covers a broad range of topics related to hardware security and trust. We welcome contributions on hardware-based attacks and countermeasures, secure hardware design methodologies, hardware security for emerging technologies [such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI)], and novel cryptographic primitives for hardware security and trust. We encourage researchers, academics, and industry practitioners to share their insights, experiences, and cutting-edge solutions in this rapidly developing field.

● Hardware Security for Emerging Technologies: Analysis of security considerations for hardware in the context of emerging technologies, including IoT, AI, Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS), and edge computing.
● Secure Hardware Design: Techniques and methodologies for creating secure and trustworthy hardware, focusing on secure architectures and hardware security assurance.
● Hardware Security Primitives (Physically Unclonable Functions (PUFs), True Random Number Generators (TRNGs), etc.): Design and evaluation of cryptographic primitives optimized for efficient hardware implementation, balancing security and performance.
● Entropy in Physically Unclonable Functions: Investigation into the significance and applications of physical layer entropy in PUFs for strengthening hardware security. Discussion should include the origins of biases across chips that contribute to correlation introduction and the reduction of the statistical quality of bitstrings.
● Hardware-based Attacks: Analysis and defense strategies for attacks targeting hardware components, such as side-channel attacks, fault injection attacks, and hardware trojans.

Researchers are invited to submit original research papers, reviews, and case studies that are in line with the aforementioned themes. Submissions must comply with the journal's guidelines, and each manuscript will be subject to a stringent peer-review process. We eagerly anticipate diverse and insightful contributions that will define this Special Issue and enrich the collective knowledge base in the vital domain of hardware security and trust.

Hardware security, emerging technologies, trustworthiness

31 May 2024