Counterfeit and maliciously modified electronics can disrupt, disable, and subvert Department of Defense (DoD) weapons systems crucial to national security. When coupled with the growing sophistication of counterfeits and physical malware, the need for advanced detection technology is apparent. Conventional screening technologies have proven incapable of robust and reliable counterfeit detection. Sophisticated counterfeits, such as cloned ICs and devices with hardware Trojans, would go undetected by conventional screening methods. Nokomis developed the Advanced Detection of Electronic Counterfeits (ADEC) technology to address this threat. ADEC has been demonstrated to detect aged (recycled), mismarked, and maliciously modified counterfeits. Previous efforts by Nokomis have demonstrated that active Radio Frequency (RF) illumination, causes electronics to reradiate rich characteristic emission signatures. RF illumination enables rapid and agile testing of a broader set of electronic components without the need for the dedicated test fixture currently used by ADEC. Combining RF illumination with the proven counterfeit detection capabilities of ADEC will provide a disruptive technology that will enable reliable capture of counterfeit and maliciously altered devices. Under this effort, Nokomis will develop and test a prototype enhanced ADEC system with integrated active RF illumination for rapid and agile detection of counterfeit electronics.
