The product is like the "child" of the engineer! It takes months, even years, of effort and effort to design every detail. It requires careful care and growth; it also requires vaccination to boost immunity in order to cope with the colorful but dangerous world outside. If the "immunity" is too bad, the "child" will face various insecurities. The most important security issue is "plagiarism"?
The core security element is in "firmware"
Some people say that the security of hardware and firmware is equally important! Actually, the hardware is very easy to crack. Because materials, components, and PCBs are standardized, there is no secret. In terms of technical content, the firmware is usually higher than the hardware, and the firmware has the largest room to play, which best reflects the design level of the product.
Measure 1: Close the “gateway†to the outside world
The chip's programming interface (such as UART, JTAG) is like a "gateway" to the outside world. Through this door, the tool can fill the firmware into the chip or read it out. If you do not close this door, the firmware inside is easily read by the plagiarist and then burned to the copied hardware. In this way, the "children" who have worked hard have become the "children" of other people's families.
There are several ways to close the "gate".
Enable the encryption bit (such as the JTAG fuse bit of the MSP430), turn off the programming interface, and no tools can be accessed. This method is highly reliable and most MCUs have this feature;
The firmware actively configures the programming interface pin to be an IO pin to enable the programming interface to be closed. For example, the TCK pin of the JTAG is configured as a GPIO. There is a certain risk in this way, the firmware must be turned off as soon as possible after the chip is started;
Cut off the programming pins. It is difficult to pull the pins out unless the chip is turned on. Due to poor operability, it is suitable for situations where the amount of product is small and the value is low.
The first method is recommended and this method has also been supported by SmartPro 2008 software. You can check the "Encryption Bit" directly in the configuration interface. Take the MB9BF506R as an example. The configuration interface is as follows.
Measure 2: “Packing†the firmware
“Packing†means putting a “protective cover†on the firmware, and the data format and meaning change. After the plagiarist gets the data, it takes at least a few years to unravel. When the solution is finally released, the product is about to enter the end of life, which is no longer meaningful. Applicable to NorFlash, NandFlash, EEPROM without encryption mechanism.
The specific measures are: encrypting the original data by using an encryption algorithm, and writing the encrypted data to the memory. When reading, the decryption algorithm is used to restore the original data. In this way, the engineer needs to set the encryption and decryption algorithm in the firmware.
Measure 3: Use a unique ID chip, firmware and hardware binding
If you do the worst, the firmware has been read out, is there any hope to prevent plagiarism? Have! Some engineers cleverly choose chips with unique IDs so that they can't duplicate the exact same hardware. The firmware will check if the ID is the same as it expects. If it is not the same, you can judge that someone has successfully cracked, and then burn the firmware to other hardware.
When an inconsistency is found, the firmware may not work. Some engineers are "bad" and the firmware will make "bad" at a certain point in time, such as an abnormal crash. If the product has already been sold to customers at this time, those plagiarists will eat their own consequences!
How to ensure that the firmware is fully bound to the hardware? Using the custom SN function in SmartPro 2008 software, you can read the chip ID during programming and perform calculations to embed the results in the main control chip. The firmware only needs to read the result of the operation and then match the current ID to check whether it is plagiarized. As long as the storage location and calculation method of the confidential operation result, even if the plagiarist reads the data, it cannot be used on other chips!
Measure 4: Do not give the original firmware to others easily
Pay special attention to encryption when handing over firmware to the factory. Where it seems safe, it is often easy to hide the problem. Whether it is handed over to your own factory, or to the foundry factory, try to establish encryption engineering, and limit the number of times that you can only use it on a specific programmer. Even if the encryption project is obtained by the plagiarist, it has no use.
When using SmartPro 2008 software, you can turn on protected mode, allowing users to set passwords and encrypt projects.
to sum up
None of the above security measures is absolutely safe. In the actual design, a variety of measures should be considered to improve safety performance from all aspects. In this way, the work of our lovely engineers will not be easily copied, and the "children" can be safe!
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