Detection of counterfeit ICs using public identification sequences

We present a new method for protecting chips against counterfeits that makes the IC identification more accessible to the end user. Our method requires the original chip manufacturer to frequently publish identification sequences for each IC. These sequences are excerpts from the output of a stream cipher that is embedded in the protected chip and parameterized by a secret unique key. The key initialization is done by a trusted party after manufacturing. For IC verification, the end user measures the side channel leakage of the chip under test. The chip is assessed to be genuine if the end user finds a significant correlation between the observed side channel leakage and several previously published identification sequences.