1 WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF If it’s connected it’s vulnerable to attack, and in the future everything is connected so we need new security technologies … Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, connect, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. When I used...
When I used to work for IBM we used to send our engineers to China to work on projects and would find, on a number of occasions, that their laptops came back with strange new components added to their motherboards, which, given the work, was likely an attempt at espionage. Which is why we crushed everything when it got back home … But while not everyone has the luxury of crushing suspect equipment even more people often don’t know it’s been tampered with in the first place.
Now, a new chip technology developed at the University of Michigan, who also as it happens have also developed what seems to be the world’s first hackproof chip (until it isn’t), the MORPHEUS chip, could serve as an anti-counterfeit or tamper-detection system, indicating whether a secure system’s casing has been opened and exposed to light.
Academics have developed self-powered and self-erasing chips out of a new material called ‘Beyond Graphene,’ which consists of an ultra-thin layer of semiconductor, which is just three atoms thick, laid on top of a film of Azobenzene molecules that can change color while temporarily storing energy.
Azobenzene has a special property, emitting light when molecules vibrate at certain frequencies. And that enables messages — or barcodes or QR codes — to be written on the chip itself. When in contact with ultraviolet light like sunlight or blue light, however, the Azobenzene molecules naturally shrink, allowing the chip to store its message in the dark but erasing it once it’s exposed.
Using Beyond Graphene semiconductors could help eliminate supply chain attacks where products are physically tampered with. Almost every company relies upon third-party software and hardware today — nobody builds their own tech from scratch. But with every purchased device, there’s a risk that physical tampering may have taken place.
“We worry about manipulation, we worry about espionage, both nation-state and industrial level, and we worry about disruption,” said Edna Conway, Chief Security Officer for the global value chain at Cisco, to CSO Online previously. The researchers from Michigan think installing these chips inside commercial products or security systems can help take away some of that risk. However, at present, the stored energy only lasts about 7 days in the dark, and this can be even shorter if exposed to heat or even small amounts of light.
The university hopes to be able to extend the material’s lifetime beyond the current seven days to months and years when it could viably be integrated into commercial systems. The latest breakthrough from researchers is a welcome prospect for businesses. Anti-counterfeit or tamper-detection systems could save businesses, like IBM, millions of dollars annually.
“It’s very hard to detect whether a device has been tampered with. It may operate normally, but it may be doing more than it should, sending information to a third party,” said Parag Deotare, assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science at the University of Michigan, in a statement.
Matthew Griffin, described as “The Adviser behind the Advisers” and a “Young Kurzweil,” is the founder and CEO of the World Futures Forum and the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures consultancy working between the dates of 2020 to 2070, and is an award winning futurist, and author of “Codex of the Future” series.
Regularly featured in the global media, including AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, RT, Viacom, and WIRED, Matthew’s ability to identify, track, and explain the impacts of hundreds of revolutionary emerging technologies on global culture, industry and society, is unparalleled. Recognised for the past six years as one of the world’s foremost futurists, innovation and strategy experts Matthew is an international speaker who helps governments, investors, multi-nationals and regulators around the world envision, build and lead an inclusive, sustainable future.
A rare talent Matthew’s recent work includes mentoring Lunar XPrize teams, re-envisioning global education and training with the G20, and helping the world’s largest organisations envision and ideate the future of their products and services, industries, and countries.
Matthew's clients include three Prime Ministers and several governments, including the G7, Accenture, Aon, Bain & Co, BCG, Credit Suisse, Dell EMC, Dentons, Deloitte, E&Y, GEMS, Huawei, JPMorgan Chase, KPMG, Lego, McKinsey, PWC, Qualcomm, SAP, Samsung, Sopra Steria, T-Mobile, and many more.
FANATICALFUTURIST PODCAST! Hear about ALL the latest futures news and breakthroughs!SUBSCRIBE
EXPLORE MORE!
1000's of articles about the exponential future, 1000's of pages of insights, 1000's of videos, and 100's of exponential technologies: Get The Email from 311, your no-nonsense briefing on all the biggest stories in exponential technology and science.