Cybersecurity Becomes a Semiconductor Selling Point

For decades, when a customer complained of security flaws in semiconductors, every company from manufacturing to design said, "That's a software problem." But for the Electronic Design Automation (EDA) software industry that's good news and a new profit center.

These companies used to refer to design for security as a means for protecting intellectual property, ironically resulting in semiconductor products that feature multiple and sometimes massive security flaws that were easily exploited. Customers want those holes plugged in the design process, before manufacturing.

Governments and the automotive industry, the two smallest customers of the world's semiconductor companies (1% and 11.4%, respectively, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association) want chips and electronic systems secure by design. In turn, the chip companies are demanding design tools that help them meet those requirements.

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Source Fool.com