Strategy for securing semiconductor development environments on AWS

Mike Virgilio, Allan Carter, and Nikhil Marrapu, Amazon Web Services (AWS)

June 2023 (document history)

This document provides strategic guidance to help you secure and meet compliance requirements for semiconductor workloads operating in the AWS Cloud. It includes sample architectures and overviews of AWS services and features that can you can use to implement this guidance and help protect sensitive data from security risks.

Semiconductor industry overview

According to the Semiconductor Industry Association, the semiconductor business is a USD573.44 billion global industry. Security is a top priority for the industry in order to safeguard intellectual property (IP). Semiconductor companies require development environments so their engineers can design chips, electronic systems, circuit boards, and other products. A secure development environment must strictly control who can access the IP within it.

Companies develop their own IP, but they commonly also use IP from third-party vendors, such as processor cores, standard interfaces, process design kits (PDKs) from semiconductor foundries, and licensed tools from electronic design automation (EDA) companies. The highly collaborative nature of the development process means internal engineers and engineers from those third-party companies need access to the development environment. A critical security requirement is to protect against unauthorized data exfiltration from the secure development environment.

Semiconductor companies require the latest technical capabilities

Semiconductor companies operate within a competitive industry, where speed-to-market and innovation are essential for success. As chip design and fabrication requirements become more intricate, semiconductor companies require access to the latest technologies to meet and exceed the industry's demands. The exponential growth in compute and storage requirements can be met by the scalability and capacity of the AWS Cloud. With a comprehensive infrastructure and robust set of compute, network, and storage solutions, AWS empowers semiconductor companies to utilize cutting-edge technologies, such as machine learning, high-performance computing, and automation. Use of these technologies can accelerate research and development efforts, optimize the manufacturing processes, and provide access to the latest technology. Valuable IP is a compelling target for sophisticated attacks, making security the top priority for a secure development environment.

Using economies of scale, elasticity, and automation

AWS provides companies with economy of scale, resource elasticity, and automation capabilities that are essential to success. Because AWS has partnered with hundreds of thousands of companies, massive economies of scale can be achieved, and this translates to lower costs for all. AWS infrastructure elasticity allows companies to easily scale up to satisfy the most demanding workloads and then scale down to optimize costs. In addition, AWS automation capabilities help companies create repeatable processes that minimize undifferentiated, manual tasks. AWS offers a wide range of security services and features to help semiconductor companies secure their workloads through strong security controls, including network segmentation, data encryption, and regulatory compliance. By building in the AWS Cloud, semiconductor companies can focus on innovation and growth, while also ensuring that their data and operations are resilient against potential security risks.