Microelectronics is a key technology in the technical transformation, underpinning everything from everyday objects such as smartphones and ID cards to industrial manufacturing processes and medical diagnostic systems. This makes it all the more important to ensure that electronics are reliable and trustworthy. The Velektronik research platform has teamed up with the Association for Electrical, Electronic & Information Technologies (VDE) to create a new VDE expert group titled Trusted Electronics. It is to function as a central point of contact, bringing industry, the research sector, and government agencies together to advance the topic of trusted electronics in Germany. The group’s objectives are to cultivate awareness of and support for trusted electronics, consolidate existing research activities, transfer research findings into application, and help to shape industry standards.

The EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) creates future requirements for hardware and software producers, obligating them to prove that their products meet certain security standards. Electronic components are the centerpiece of any technology. Their role is to help ensure that electronic products are failsafe and reliable and have no security vulnerabilities. The electronics themselves are not supposed to pose any risk, as product reliability and human safety could otherwise be jeopardized.

However, implementing the requirements created by the CRA is a major challenge in light of the standardized, cost-effective production processes used in the semiconductor industry. The situation calls for coordinated action among all the players involved. To that end, the Velektronik research platform, consisting of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, the Leibniz Association and the edacentrum, has joined forces with the Association for Electrical, Electronic & Information Technologies (VDE) to create the new VDE Expert Group on Trusted Electronics, which will now function as the central point of contact for trusted electronics in Germany. 

Topics of focus for the expert group include:

• Sharing information on new research findings
• Defining and sharing best practices between higher education institutions, research institutes, industry, government agencies, testing and certification labs, and distributors
• Monitoring developments in new laws and regulations relating to secure production (NIS 2) and secure products (CRA)
• Monitoring relevant international standardization for trusted electronics
• Analyzing and discussing new incidents in the area of trusted electronics
• Identifying new research projects based on findings relating to the points above 

Invitation to industry, government agencies and the research sector to participate

The spokespersons for the expert group are Prof. Georg Sigl, Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied and Integrated Security AISEC, and Dr. Detlef Houdeau, Senior Director Business Development, Infineon Technologies AG. They invite stakeholders across industry, the research sector and government to participate in the new expert group and help shape the topic of trusted electronics in Germany and across Europe.

Further information on the expert group and ways to get involved is available at
https://www.velektronik.de/fachgruppe-velektronik/ (in German)

Prof. Georg Sigl comments: "The Cyber Resilience Act is a good example of why participation in the newly founded expert group can be of great added value. The EU regulation defines the guidelines for the future implementation of not only cybersecurity, but also trusted electronics. Our goal is to inform the members of the working group about requirements and solutions for the implementation of the CRA at an early stage and define joint research projects for solutions to bridge existing gaps.”

Says Dr. Detlef Houdeau: “Cooperation between industry, the research sector and government is crucial to advancing trusted electronics in Germany and elsewhere in Europe. With the new VDE expert group, we now have a central platform to pool our expertise, initiate new research projects and help shape security standards.”

Transferring the results of the Velektronik research platform into application

The formation of the expert group was announced at the Tage der vertrauenswürdigen Elektronik (Trusted Electronics Days) event held at Fraunhofer headquarters in Munich in early June 2024. The focus was on the results of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) funding guidelines ZEUS and ZuSE, which covered a wide range of topics from design to production and analysis of trusted electronics. Particular areas of focus included technologies and methods for secure designs, securing supply chains, hardware fingerprinting, protection against attacks on implementations, secure device life cycles and adapting processors. 

The new expert group plans to forge ahead with these topics and put them into practice together with partners from industry, the research sector and government. Going forward, this event will become the key event format in Germany on these topics. In addition to its regular meetings, the new expert group will also meet there to exchange ideas.

The new expert group MN 5.8 Trusted Electronics is part of the Micro- and Nanoelectronics division of the VDE Information Technology Society (VDE ITG) and expands the range of topics covered by the MN 5 Technical Committee Quality and Reliability of Integrated Circuits. The group consolidates the activities of the Velektronik research platform, which concluded with Trusted Electronics Days 2024, and enables long-term funding