Hardware security refers to vulnerability protection that comes in the form of a physical device rather than software that is installed on the hardware of a computer system.
Hardware security can pertain to a device used to scan a system or monitor network traffic.
Common examples include hardware firewalls and proxy servers. Less common examples include hardware security modules (HSM), which provision cryptographic keys for critical functions such as encryption, decryption and authentication for various systems.
Hardware systems can provide more robust security than software is capable of and can also add an additional layer of security for important systems.
Hardware security can also refer back to the protection of physical systems from cyber-attacks. As an example, hardware security may refer to equipment destruction attacks, which focus on computing devices and networked non-computing devices such as the ever-increasing number of connected devices in M2M or IoT (Internet of Things) environments.
These environments are bringing connectivity and communications to large numbers of hardware devices that must be protected through either hardware- or software-based security.
Industry analysts recommend assessing the security of a hardware device. Organizations can do this by evaluating vulnerabilities from manufacturers as well as other potential sources such as running code and the device’s data I/O on a network.
In other words, it’s essential the level of protection should be in accordance with the need. For example, an area of a hardware device responsible for Wi-Fi LED may not require much in the way of security expenditures.
Want to learn more? Tonex offers Hardware Security Training, a 2-day course that introduces participants to a variety of cryptographic processor and processing overhead, side-channel attacks, physically unclonable functions, hardware-based true random number generator, watermarking of IPS, FPGA security, passive and active metering and hardware based secure program execution.
If you are an IT professional who specializes in systems, you will benefit from the presentations, examples, case studies, discussions, and individual activities upon the completion of hardware security training that will prepare yourself for your career.
Additionally, Tonex offers nearly three dozen more courses in Cybersecurity Foundation. This includes cutting edge courses like:
—Cybersecurity Fundamentals (2 days)
—Electric Grid Cybersecurity Master Certification (4 weeks)
—Network Security Training (2 days)
—Software Security Training (2 days)
—ICS Cybersecurity Training (4 days)
For more information, questions, comments, contact us.