VeriGene: A Tool for the Creation of DNA Representations for Hardware Security Analysis

Hardware Trojans (HT), or malicious attacks on electronic circuits, are difficult to detect within a design without novel analysis methods. Biological paradigms of self-defense exist, providing DNA as a possible basis for Hardware Trojan detection. Genetic circuits utilize DNA structures to allow programmable functions in living cells. The programs used to generate genetic circuits are in their infancy, taking considerable time with a limited success rate. In this study, we propose VeriGene a new tool and method for analyzing malicious attacks in electronic circuits, adapting DNA as a basis for viewing and analyzing hardware designs. Utilizing the general structure and encoding of DNA information into individual nucleotides and methods of genetic circuits, we describe a program to generate DNA representations of circuits. Once analyzed with a Neural Network, the DNA representations from infected and uninfected circuits were classified with high accuracy. The results provide evidence for an alternative DNA lens for the hardware security analysis of circuits and the reliability of the VeriGene.