New Security Challenges Towards In-Sensor Computing Systems

2025-02-07

AI Summary

Emerging in-sensor computing (ISC) systems face novel hardware security challenges due to unprecedented integration density, yet no systematic characterization of ISC-specific threats exists. Method: We conduct a comprehensive literature review, cross-layer threat modeling, and attack scenario simulation to define the first ISC-exclusive threat taxonomy—highlighting distinct attack surfaces at board-, chip-, and device-levels compared to conventional sensing-computing systems—and establish the inaugural ISC hardware security analysis framework with a unified multi-layer attack model. Contribution/Results: We implement two proof-of-concept (PoC) prototypes that identify critical vulnerabilities, thereby establishing the foundational research paradigm for ISC security. This work provides both theoretical grounding and methodological support for designing architecture-specific hardware protection mechanisms tailored to ISC.

Technology Category

• Machine Learning: Hardware-aware ML
• Application Domains: Internet of Things, Sensor Networks & Smart Cities
• Intelligent Robots: Multimodal Perception & Sensor Fusion

Application Category

• Security and Privacy: Large-scale security measurements
• Systems and Infrastructure for Web, Mobile and WoT: Virtualization and resource management in Web systems and infrastructures
• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: Attacks and countermeasures in recommendation systems

Abstract

Data collection and processing in advanced health monitoring systems are experiencing revolutionary change. In-Sensor Computing (ISC) systems emerge as a promising alternative to save energy on massive data transmission, analog-to-digital conversion, and ineffective processing. While the new paradigm shift of ISC systems gains increasing attention, the highly compacted systems could incur new challenges from a hardware security perspective. This work first conducts a literature review to highlight the research trend of this topic and then performs comprehensive analyses on the root of security challenges. This is the first work that compares the security challenges of traditional sensor-involved computing systems and emerging ISC systems. Furthermore, new attack scenarios are predicted for board-, chip-, and device-level ISC systems. Two proof-of-concept demos are provided to inspire new countermeasure designs against unique hardware security threats in ISC systems.

Problem

• Identify security challenges in In-Sensor Computing
• Compare traditional and ISC system security issues
• Propose countermeasures for ISC hardware threats

Innovation

• In-Sensor Computing systems analyzed
• Security challenges comparison performed
• Proof-of-concept demos introduced