Why Hardware Security Is Just as Critical as Software Security in Modern Systems

Software tends to dominate security discussions, but it is only half of the equation. The other half is hardware security, which is often overlooked but equally important.

Hardware security — implemented at the silicon level across processors, storage components, input/output devices, and power supplies — and software security play distinct roles and have unique strengths.

And both must work in concert to fully protect modern computing systems.

Hardware security benefits

Hardware security enhances the overall protection and performance of modern computing systems. And it provides layers of defense that are difficult or impossible to replicate with software alone.

• Root of Trust (RoT): Hardware helps establish a Root of Trust (RoT), which is essential for verifying and protecting the integrity and authenticity of a system’s operations. Secure boot functionality, for example, ensures the system starts in a known good state and prevents malicious code from compromising the system during the boot process. Hardware-based key storage protects cryptographic keys and makes them far less vulnerable to extraction through memory dumps or other software-based attacks.
• Physical protection: Software cannot defend against physical attacks, but hardware security peripherals offer a number of physical protections.
  • Tamper-resistant features, such as Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs), stop attackers from physically probing or altering the system to bypass security controls.
  • Secure hardware makes it significantly more difficult to reverse engineer a system, uncover vulnerabilities, and extract sensitive information.
  • Countermeasures against side-channel attacks — which are often impractical to implement in software without significant tradeoffs in performance and size — can be established using hardware-based cryptographic processors.
  • Secure access to debugging ports using keys (stored in hardware or fuses) provides Joint Test Action Group (JTAG) and debugging channel protection. Keys provide flexibility but must be unique for each device, while fuses offer an irreversible, one-time solution to permanently disable access.
• Isolation: Hardware supports TEEs and hardware-enforced access controls to ensure sensitive operations and data are securely isolated. The goal is to prevent malware or compromised software from accessing critical data. Additionally, hardware security features can prevent attackers from exploiting shared resources (e.g., memory, CPUs) to gather and exfiltrate sensitive data.
• Performance: Dedicated hardware security is faster and more energy efficient than software implementations, especially for high-bandwidth solutions. For example, hardware-based cryptographic processors can handle x8 and x16 PCIe solutions, which software alone cannot support due to the high speeds required.

The role of software security

Software security has its own strengths. It supports complex, widely deployed security policies. It can be updated and patched over time, helping ensure systems remain resilient in the face of new vulnerabilities. And it enables rapid response to emerging attack vectors. All of these attributes make software security an essential component of any comprehensive security strategy.

• Flexibility: Software can be updated and reconfigured to address new threats without requiring changes to the underlying hardware.
• Scalability: Software-based solutions can be deployed across a wide range of devices and systems, making them highly versatile.
• Application-level functionality: Software security plays a critical role in enabling advanced application-level features, such as threat detection and response. Software tools can provide real-time monitoring and mitigation of risks, ensuring systems can quickly adapt to emerging attack vectors.

While software security is highly adaptable, its effectiveness is amplified when built on a foundation of secure hardware. Together, they create a robust defense against both known and emerging threats.