Ruhr-Uni-Bochum

Explainability as a Requirement for Hardware: Introducing Explainable Hardware (XHW)

2024

Conference / Journal

Research Hub

Research Hub B: Eingebettete Sicherheit
Research Hub D: Benutzerfreundlichkeit

Research Challenges

RC 4: Platform Trojans
RC 10: Engineers and Usability
RC 11: End-users and Usability

Abstract

In today's age of digital technology, ethical concerns regarding computing systems are increasing. While the focus of such concerns currently is on requirements for software, this article spotlights the hardware domain, specifically microchips. For example, the opaqueness of modern microchips raises security issues, as malicious actors can manipulate them, jeopardizing system integrity. As a consequence, governments invest substantially to facilitate a secure microchip supply chain. To combat the opaqueness of hardware, this article introduces the concept of Explainable Hardware (XHW). Inspired by and building on previous work on Explainable AI (XAI) and explainable software systems, we develop a framework for achieving XHW comprising relevant stakeholders, requirements they might have concerning hardware, and possible explainability approaches to meet these requirements. Through an exploratory survey among 18 hardware experts, we showcase applications of the framework and discover potential research gaps. Our work lays the foundation for future work and structured debates on XHW.

Tags

Hardware Trojans
Real-world Attacks
Understanding and Transforming Security and Privacy Behaviors
Education