Developing a Framework for Hardware Security

Hardware security is essential in securing our nation's infrastructure but is often not implemented from the start of the design process. This paper experiments with many different techniques to identify vulnerabilities from devices straight from the manufacturer before initial setup. Tools such as Tenable Nessus, Nmap, and Nikto are used to scan multiple attack surfaces of these devices. Findings indicate that the network portion, such as web servers, are left insecure drastically more often then physical counter parts. This research aims to improve the security posture of devices before initial deployment by creating a hardware security framework applicable to a wide range of devices, including network hardware, IoT devices, and embedded systems.