Handbook on Securing Cyber-Physical Critical Infrastructure

Chapter 12

Hardware and Security: Vulnerabilities and Solutions

Gedare Bloom, Eugen Leontie, Bhagirath Narahari and Rahul Simha

12.1 Introduction

This chapter introduces the role that computer hardware plays for attack and defense in cyber-physical systems. Hardware security – whether for attack or defense – differs from software, network, and data security because of the nature of hardware. Often, hardware design and manufacturing occur before or during software development, and as a result, we must consider hardware security early in product life cycles. Yet, hardware executes the software that controls a cyber-physical system, so hardware is the last line of defense before damage is done – if an attacker compromises hardware then software ...