AI-based Security Verification of SoCs

Speaker 

Dr. Farimah Farahmandi is the Wally Rhines Endowed Professor in Hardware Security in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) at the University of Florida

Abstract

As modern system-on-chip (SoC) designs grow increasingly complex, ensuring security throughout the silicon development lifecycle has become a critical yet challenging task. Traditional verification techniques often lack security awareness and remain time-consuming, costly, and prone to human error, necessitating a shift toward automation. This talk explores AI-driven security verification as a transformative approach, leveraging machine learning (ML) and generative AI to automate vulnerability detection, enhance formal verification, and strengthen threat modeling. By integrating AI into security workflows, engineers can significantly reduce development costs while improving the accuracy and efficiency of security validation.

The discussion will also explore the future outlook of AI-driven security solutions, offering practical strategies for engineers and practitioners to reinforce hardware security at various design and verification stages. Additionally, the talk will highlight open research challenges and opportunities for academics, paving the way for future advancements in AI-powered security verification.

Biography

Dr. Farimah Farahmandi is the Wally Rhines Endowed Professor in Hardware Security in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) at the University of Florida. She also serves as the Associate Director of the Florida Institute for Cybersecurity (FICS) at the University of Florida. Her research focuses on hardware security verification, formal methods, fault-injection attack analysis, and post-silicon validation and debug, resulting in 7 books and over 140 publications in these fields. Dr. Farahmandi’s research has been sponsored by a variety of leading companies and government agencies. For her contributions, she is a recipient of 7 best paper and nomination awards, and was recognized with the ACM/IEEE DAC Under 40 Innovators Award (2024), the Best Assistant Professor Award at the University of Florida (2024), the Excellence in Service Award (2023), and the Excellence in Research Award (2022) from the ECE department at UF. She also received the prestigious Young Faculty Award from SRC (2022) and the NSF CAREER Award.