The integrity of microelectronics underpins the security of modern societies. From defense platforms to financial systems, healthcare devices, and communications infrastructure, chips are the invisible core of critical operations. If compromised, the risks cascade far beyond technology, threatening national security and economic stability. In today’s interconnected supply chains, no nation can guarantee hardware trust on its own. Instead, building secure microelectronics requires international collaboration, shared R&D, and common standards. Erik Hosler, a strategist in secure hardware policy, underscores that ensuring trust in chips requires both design innovation and international collaboration. His point highlights the dual challenge: developing tamper-resistant hardware while coordinating with allies to ensure that supply chains remain resilient.
Trust in hardware is more than a technical problem, but a strategic imperative. Vulnerabilities in chips cannot be patched as easily as software flaws, and compromised hardware may remain undetected for years. To address this, the U.S. and its allies must pool resources, align standards, and foster innovation that prioritizes security at every stage, from design to fabrication to deployment. This collaboration is essential to harden critical infrastructure against both state and non-state threats.
Why Hardware Trust Matters
Unlike software vulnerabilities, which can often be mitigated with patches and updates, hardware vulnerabilities are embedded at the most fundamental level. A single compromised microcontroller in a defense system or power grid can create openings that adversaries exploit to disrupt or turn off critical operations.
The stakes are especially high for national defense. Secure microelectronics are needed in command-and-control systems, missile guidance, and communications infrastructure. In civilian contexts, financial networks and healthcare devices also require trusted hardware to maintain public safety and confidence.
Trust, therefore, is not optional. Without transparency into how chips are designed, manufactured, and tested, governments and corporations cannot fully rely on the systems they operate. Hardware trust is the foundation of resilience in a digitized world.
Secure Design and R&D Collaboration
Building secure microelectronics begins at the design stage. Features such as tamper resistance, secure enclaves, and hardware-based cryptographic functions must be integrated from the outset. Retrofitting security after deployment is costly and often ineffective.
R&D collaboration with allies plays a crucial role here. Joint projects between U.S. institutions, Japan, and Europe have explored new architectures for trusted hardware, including chips that can detect unauthorized modifications or self-disable when tampered with. Taiwan and South Korea bring expertise in fabrication, enabling secure designs to be tested and scaled.
The National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC) is positioned to serve as a hub for these efforts, connecting researchers across allied nations. By creating shared platforms for secure design, allies can accelerate innovation and ensure that trusted microelectronics reach production more quickly.
Allied Coordination for Trusted Supply Chains
Beyond design, securing the supply chain is essential. Globalized production means that chips pass through dozens of suppliers before reaching end users, each step a potential point of vulnerability. Coordinating with allies ensures that critical components are sourced, tested, and verified within trusted networks.
Japan’s leadership in materials and equipment, Taiwan’s role in advanced fabrication, and South Korea’s dominance in memory all highlight the importance of allied collaboration. By aligning procurement policies and verification frameworks, the U.S. and its partners can create a secure ecosystem that excludes untrusted suppliers without fragmenting supply chains.
Transparency frameworks, such as a Hardware Bill of Materials (HBOM), can further strengthen trust. By cataloging every component and supplier, HBOM enables organizations to identify risks and respond quickly to vulnerabilities. Allied coordination can make HBOM a shared standard, improving resilience across borders.
Balancing Openness and Security
One of the challenges in building secure microelectronics is balancing the need for transparency with the protection of intellectual property. Suppliers may hesitate to disclose detailed component information, fearing that transparency could compromise competitiveness. Yet without visibility, customers cannot fully trust the hardware they receive.
Solutions include certification frameworks managed by neutral consortia or governments. These frameworks allow suppliers to prove compliance with security standards without disclosing sensitive details. Trusted foundries and secure enclaves can provide environments where critical chips are manufactured and verified under strict oversight.
The U.S. and allies must also align export controls and certification processes. Fragmented rules increase costs and reduce effectiveness. Coordinated approaches can ensure that openness and security reinforce rather than undermine each other.
Toward a Global Trust Framework
Securing microelectronics is not just a technical challenge; it is a societal one. The value of trusted hardware extends beyond defense and critical infrastructure. It underpins public confidence in digital systems and ensures that economic and social activities can proceed without disruption.
Erik Hosler observes, “It must impact society at large. The value of the computations it performs exceeds the cost to build and operate the computer.” His observation resonates in the context of secure microelectronics. Trustworthy hardware is not simply about preventing failures, but also about ensuring that the benefits of computation outweigh the risks and costs. Without trust, the value of advanced systems diminishes, no matter how powerful they are.
A global trust framework would embed security into every stage of the microelectronics lifecycle. It would involve shared R&D, harmonized standards, and coordinated investment in trusted production. By working together, allies can create a system where hardware trust is not a competitive advantage but a shared baseline for resilience.
Building Trust Across Borders
The security of microelectronics is inseparable from the security of modern societies. Defense systems, financial networks, and healthcare infrastructure all depend on chips that can be trusted to function without compromise. In a globalized supply chain, no nation can achieve this alone.
Partnerships among the U.S., Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Europe provide a path forward. By aligning standards, sharing R&D, and certifying trusted supply chains, these alliances can ensure that hardware trust is built into the foundation of critical systems. Transparency frameworks like HBOM, combined with secure design and international coordination, offer practical ways to strengthen resilience.
Trust is the ultimate currency of digital infrastructure. By building trust across borders, the U.S. and its allies can ensure that secure microelectronics remain the backbone of critical systems, protecting societies against both present threats and future uncertainties.
