SecIC3 Boosts Hardware Non-Interference Verification Speed

Global: SecIC3 Boosts Hardware Non-Interference Verification Speed

A new hardware model‑checking algorithm named SecIC3 has been introduced to accelerate the verification of confidentiality and integrity properties in digital designs. The approach leverages the IC3 framework while specifically targeting the self‑composition structure commonly used for non‑interference checks.

Background on Hardware Non‑Interference

Formal verification techniques are increasingly applied to ensure that secret data does not influence observable outputs in hardware. The standard method translates the non‑interference hyperproperty into a safety property on a self‑composed design that contains two synchronized copies of the original circuit.

SecIC3 Algorithm Design

SecIC3 adapts the IC3 algorithm to exploit two complementary features of the self‑composition model: symmetric state exploration, which reduces redundant search effort, and the addition of equivalence predicates that capture relationships between the paired circuit instances.

Implementation Details

The researchers integrated SecIC3 into two publicly available IC3 implementations, extending the existing codebases without altering the core solving engines. This modular integration enables direct comparison with baseline tools.

Experimental Evaluation

Using a benchmark suite of ten hardware designs intended for non‑interference analysis, SecIC3 achieved proof‑generation times up to 49.3 × faster than the unmodified baseline implementations. Across the suite, the algorithm consistently reduced verification time, demonstrating its practical advantage.

Future Outlook

By markedly shortening the effort required to certify hardware secrecy, SecIC3 could facilitate broader adoption of formal security checks in the design flow, potentially lowering the risk of information‑leakage vulnerabilities in emerging silicon products.

This report is based on information from arXiv, licensed under Academic Preprint / Open Access. Based on the abstract of the research paper. Full text available via ArXiv.