Rapid and Agile Detection of Counterfeit Electronics using Enhanced ADEC Technology

Counterfeit and maliciously modified electronics can disrupt, disable, and subvert Department of Defense (DoD) weapons systems crucial tonational security. When coupled with the growing sophistication of counterfeits and physical malware, the need for advanced detection technologyis 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 demonstratedto detect aged (recycled), mismarked, and maliciously modified counterfeits. Previous efforts by Nokomis have demonstrated that active RadioFrequency (RF) illumination, causes electronics to reradiate rich characteristic emission signatures. RF illumination enables rapid and agiletesting of a broader set of electronic components without the need for the dedicated test fixture currently used by ADEC. Combining RFillumination with the proven counterfeit detection capabilities of ADEC will provide a disruptive technology that will enable reliable capture ofcounterfeit and maliciously altered devices. Under this effort, Nokomis will demonstrate the feasibility of integrating active RF illumination withexisting ADEC capabilities for robust counterfeit detection across a wide breadth of electronic component classes.