Guest Editorial: Hardware/Software Cross-Layer Technologies for Trustworthy and Secure Computing

The increasing complexity of networked computing systems makes modern network systems vulnerable to various attacks against their resources, infrastructure, and operability. While the reasons for such attacks may be tied to complex sociological issues, the cause of the inadequate defense solutions lies in the single-layered approach used to address computer systems security. Current security approaches separate defense strategies into distinct realms, either hardware or software. Accordingly, cross-layer approaches for secure computing and circuit systems are entirely lacking. In addition, the wide usage of third-party IP cores and outsourcing fabrication/packaging services make it possible for malicious hardware modules to enter the design flow and complicate the problem of trusted system design and verification. Although hardware security has been under investigation for years, systematically understanding the security threats to hardware infrastructure from a cross-layer perspective is an emerging research topic. Therefore, this special issue intends to serve as a forum to present state-of-the-art security solutions crossing software and hardware layers towards trustworthy computing system development.