System to combat design-time vulnerability

1. A method comprising:

incorporating, by a computing system, a security co-processor into a circuit design modeling an electronic device, wherein the security co-processor is coupled to an interconnect in the electronic device;

configuring, by the computing system, the security co-processor to monitor activity on the interconnect in the electronic device; and

defining, by the computing system, at least one security action for the security co-processor to initiate when the security co-processor monitors the electronic device failing to conform to rules in a rules database.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the security action includes at least one of shutting down at least the portion of the electronic device, halting operations that fail to conform to the rules, logging the operations that fail to conform to the rules, prompting the electronic device to present of the operations that fail to conform to the rules, or determining to allow the operations that fail to conform to the rules to continue.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising configuring, by the computing system, the security co-processor to determine whether monitored activity on the interconnect corresponds to an authorized or an unauthorized operation in the electronic device based on the rules.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising configuring, by the computing system, the security co-processor to present interrogation messages on the interconnect of the electronic device, wherein configuring the security co-processor to monitor at least the portion of the electronic device further comprises configuring the security co-processor to monitor the interconnect for responses to the interrogation messages.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising configuring, by the computing system, the security co-processor to determine whether the responses to the interrogation messages or lack thereof conform to the rules.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

configuring, by the computing system, the security co-processor with a location of the rules database; and

configuring, by the computing system, the security co-processor to retrieve the rules from the location associated with the rules database.

7. A system comprising:

a security device insertion unit configured to incorporate a security co-processor into a circuit design modeling an electronic device, wherein the security device insertion unit is configured to couple the security co-processor to an interconnect in the electronic device;

a co-processor configuration unit to configure the security co-processor to monitor activity on the interconnect in the electronic device; and

a security action unit configured to generate at least one security action for the security co-processor to initiate when the security co-processor monitors the electronic device failing to conform to rules in a rules database.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the security action includes at least one of shutting down at least the portion of the electronic device, halting operations that fail to conform to the rules, logging the operations that fail to conform to the rules, prompting the electronic device to present of the operations that fail to conform to the rules, or determining to allow the operations that fail to conform to the rules to continue.

9. The system of claim 7 , wherein the co-processor configuration unit is configured to configure the security co-processor to determine whether monitored activity on the interconnect corresponds to an authorized or an unauthorized operation in the electronic device based on the rules.

10. The system of claim 7 , wherein the co-processor configuration unit is configured to configure the security co-processor to present interrogation messages on the interconnect of the electronic device and monitor the interconnect for responses to the interrogation messages.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the co-processor configuration unit is configured to configure the security co-processor to determine whether the responses to the interrogation messages or lack thereof conform to the rules.

12. The system of claim 7 , wherein the co-processor configuration unit is configured to configure the security co-processor to retrieve the rules from the rules database.

13. An apparatus comprising at least one computer-readable memory device storing instructions configured to cause one or more processing devices to perform operations comprising:

monitoring communication on an interconnect in an electronic device;

comparing the monitored communication with rules defining permissible or impermissible behavior over the interconnect; and

initiating a security action when the monitored communication fails to conform to the behavior over the interconnect defined by the rules.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the security action includes at least one of shutting down at least the portion of the electronic device, halting monitored communication that fails to conform to the rules, logging monitored communication that fails to conform to the rules, prompting the electronic device to present of the monitored communication that fails to conform to the rules, or determining to allow monitored communication that fails to conform to the rules to continue.

15. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the instructions are further configured to cause the one or more processing devices to perform operations comprising sending, over the interconnect, interrogation messages configured to prompt any devices coupled to the interconnect to transmit a response message on the interconnect, wherein monitoring communication on the interconnect includes monitoring the interconnect for response to the interrogation messages or lack thereof.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the instructions are further configured to cause the one or more processing devices to perform operations comprising determining whether the responses to the interrogation messages or lack thereof conform to the rules.

17. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the rules are configured to define at least one of protocols, syntax, or semantics of legal communication on the interconnect, define illegal communication on the interconnect, or identify devices authorized or unauthorized to couple to the interconnect.

18. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the interconnect is at least one bus or interconnect fabric capable of propagating messages between devices.