Using Static Hardware Wrappers to Thwart Hardware Trojans and Code Bugs at Runtime

In the modern information age, security is a basic requirement. In this paper, we address security vulnerabilities that can occur at the lowest levels of computing due to code bugs and hardware Trojans. Some of these vulnerabilities can be detected using modern verification tools. However, more effort is needed to address vulnerabilities which occur at run-time. To this end, we propose a static, stand-alone hardware wrapper that is independent of the attack mechanism. The wrapper is integrated at the register transfer level (RTL) during the pre-silicon stage of integrated circuit (IC) design and provides security protections during use by the end-consumer. The proposed hardware wrapper will not remove or detect these vulnerabilities, but, it can enforce correct behavior by assuming control of external signals during run-time.