SIA President Testifies on Dangers of Counterfeit Chips

The president of  the  Semiconductor Industry Association recently testified before Congress on the dangers and costs of counterfeit electronic components.

“The catastrophic failure risk inherently found in counterfeit semiconductors places our citizens and military personnel in unreasonable peril. A counterfeit semiconductor is a ticking time bomb,” Brian Toohey,  the president of the Semiconductor Industry Association told the Senate Armed Services Committee, which is investigating counterfeit electronic parts in the Department of Defense supply chain.

“Counterfeiters violate American companies’ intellectual property rights and cost American’s jobs. We estimate that counterfeiting costs US-based semiconductor companies more than $7.5 billion each year.
For more information on Toohey’s testimony before the Senate committee see:  SIA President Testifies on Dangers of Counterfeit Chips

Discussions on Proper Electrical Testing of Components at the DMSMS 2011 Conference

A major concern at the recently concluded DMSMS conference was the US Department of Defense potential cutback of electrical testing of electronic components.

The Military and Aerospace industry attendees and exhibitors had major concerns about the limited testing performed by a curve/contact tester versus the preferred DC, AC, functional and parametric testing of a device.  The preferred tests are important in uncovering counterfeit products.

I gave a lecture at the conference entitled “Proper Electrical Testing to Detect Counterfeit Components.”  Its scope was to educate members of the electronics industry about the risks associated with performing only basic contact testing with simple counterfeit detectors as opposed to the preferred functional and parametric exercises required to properly test these suspect electronic components.  Electrical testing provides a more thorough exercise in testing electronic component products to illustrate their accuracy and authenticity.

As exhibitors at the recent DMSMS conference, NJMET presented our Mission: Imposter Counterfeit Component Test Program. The team at NJMET participated in the Counterfeit Parts Control Plan Implementations, the DMSMS Tools and Services Program, as well as technical sessions and panels which included: Institutionalizing Standard Practices, Defense Initiatives and Their Impact to DMSMS, Counterfeit Mitigation Strategies, and Counterfeit Reporting.

For more about the DMSMS conference see “Joseph Federico talks on proper electrical testing at the DMSMS and Standardization Conference 2011.”

The Purpose of Electronic Testing

Here’s a link to a great layman’s level explanation of the purpose of electronic testing: 

The Different Kinds of Electronic Testing Equipment    I would like to add that in the event of a suspected electronic failure, it would be wise to send the suspect electronic component to an electronic component test laboratory to evaluate the component.   Continuing to use a malfunctioning component can cause massive damage to the entire electrical device.

Thoughts on the JEDEC Standard Update

I feel that the new JESD9B document presents a good structure for external visual inspection of electronic microcircuits covering a wide range of commercial off-the-shelf products manufactured in the plastics arena.  This arena is much more significant to manufacturers today than in 1994, which was the peak time for the Mil-Std-883 Method 2009 which covered only hermetically sealed components.

This updated specification is long overdue and a useful method, combining old and new industry criteria for proper external visual inspection protocols.

Detecting Counterfeit Electronic Components

This opinion piece at CBSNews.com raises the issue of counterfeit components originating in China.

Nearly a decade ago our company NJ Micro Electronic Testing began uncovering non-authentic electronic component products that had been purchased for use in Defense Department equipment as well as in the medical and other industrial arenas. These counterfeit components had a varying level of sophistication, but they all failed when tested against the military standards the real parts needed to meet or exceed. As a response, we devised a state of the art, military standards-based testing program to detect and stop the flow of counterfeit electronic component devices called "Mission Imposter®". It is the world's first counterfeit component detection program. This testing process detects counterfeit electronics before they find their way into a customer's products.

The Mission Imposter process begins with an analysis of the shipping materials and packaging. The parts then undergo several levels of inspection including: marking and dimensional checks, internal visual analysis, several levels of material analysis, and electrical testing to determine authenticity.

The successful implementation of this program has been effective in uncovering imitation electronic devices that began infiltrating the industry close to a decade ago. These counterfeit components can now be detected and stopped. It's important that this happens before they are used in the manufacture of products that could put many projects and many lives in danger.

JEDEC Updates Microelectronic Packages, Covers Standards

I have always found that being a member of JEDEC Solid State Technology Council has been a big asset in keeping technical companies such as our laboratory located in NJ up to date with manufacturing and testing revisions.  The most recent update of the Inspection Criteria for Microelectronic Packages and Covers standard was announced in late June.  (See the announcement.)

As a JEDEC member, I have also attend various industry seminars that have proved valuable to me and to our engineering staff in NJ.  Membership also allows you to participate in the development meetings for future protocols.

Contaminated Foreigh-Made Components Could Open a Back Door to US Systems

It is not a surprise to read that the Department of Homeland Security believes that there are foreign made counterfeit components that have been intentionally tampered with in an effort to allow future cyber attacks. (See this article from ABC News: U.S. Suspects Contaminated Foreign-Made Components Threaten Cyber ....) If these components are used in sensitive electronic systems, those systems would be left open for a cyber warfare attack.

There are several key counterfeit examination tests that can be performed to identify these counterfeit components. To attack this issue immediately one needs to capture all the manufacturer part types and their date codes and perform a sample test evaluation in accordance with Military Standard 105D to uncover any anomalies in accordance with those date codes. For example, if 35,000 products of an LM333 component with a date code of 9912 were manufactured in 1999, it is recommended that a sample of 315 units be evaluated to uncover any suspect signs of counterfeiting.

Once again there are many different scenarios that can be the trigger for this type of investigation. Whatever the trigger, this testing protocol is a good start to the process of identifying compromised counterfeit electronics to contain this evergrowing epidemic. You can check out the variety of testing and professional services NJMET offers at http://www.josephfedericonj.net/about_njmet/services.htm