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Comput.-Hum. Interact."],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2023,8,31]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Understanding of microchips, known as Hardware Reverse Engineering (HRE), is driven by analysts\u2019 problem solving. This work sheds light on these hitherto poorly understood problem-solving processes. We propose a methodology addressing the problem of HRE experts being unavailable for research. We developed a training enabling students to acquire intermediate levels of HRE expertise. Besides one expert, we recruited eight top-performing students from this training for our exploratory study.<\/jats:p>\n          <jats:p>All participants completed a realistic HRE task involving the removal of a copyright protection mechanism from a hardware circuit. We analyzed 2,445 log entries by applying an iterative open coding and developed a detailed hierarchical problem-solving model. Our exploration yielded insights into problem-solving strategies and revealed that two intermediates solved the task with a comparable solution time to the expert. We discuss that HRE problem solving may be a function of both expertise and cognitive abilities, and outline ideas for novel countermeasures.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1145\/3577198","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,22]],"date-time":"2022-12-22T12:50:15Z","timestamp":1671713415000},"page":"1-44","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1145\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["The Anatomy of Hardware Reverse Engineering: An Exploration of Human Factors During Problem Solving"],"prefix":"10.1145","volume":"30","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4403-1656","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Carina","family":"Wiesen","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Ruhr University Bochum and Max Planck Institute for Security and Privacy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7526-5597","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Steffen","family":"Becker","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Ruhr University Bochum and Max Planck Institute for Security and Privacy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5378-3833","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ren\u00e9","family":"Walendy","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Ruhr University Bochum and Max Planck Institute for Security and Privacy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8681-2277","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Christof","family":"Paar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Max Planck Institute for Security and Privacy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3187-5534","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nikol","family":"Rummel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Ruhr University Bochum"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"320","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,9,12]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_3_4_2_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1109\/IWSOC.2003.1213006"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_3_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1037\/0033-295X.89.4.369"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_4_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1207\/s15516709cog0802_1"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_5_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1037\/0894-4105.8.4.485"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_6_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/3-540-44647-8_1"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_7_2","first-page":"285","volume-title":"Proceedings of the 16th Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security.","author":"Becker Steffen","year":"2020","unstructured":"Steffen Becker, Carina Wiesen, Nils Albartus, Nikol Rummel, and Christof Paar. 2020. 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