Electronic products now have fingerprints?

Since product piracy is costing companies millions of dollars and putting people at risk, researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany are working on a product fingerprint. With the creation of the PUFs or physical unclonable functions, electronic components and microchips now have the capability of being counterfeit proof. They vary the thickness, length or density of certain parts during the manufacturing process, and basically construct an unique identification key. Also, these variations are not drastic enough to change the functionality of the product. As another means of protection, this digital key is not stored in the device so it cannot be read by either laser bolts or microscopes and any attempt to attack the chip automatically damages or alters it.

I think that this idea should have been in the works a long time ago. There are so many knock-offs out there that attract the public because they “appear” to be cheap, legitimate alternatives. These PUFs not only protect the consumer, but they save the companies millions of dollars. They also save the reputation of the company because it gives the impression that they are doing everything they can to prevent these scams.

Interested in reading further? http://www.gizmag.com/fraunhofer-puf-based-hardware-protection-developed/17855/