Distributor & Supplier Focus
Defensive measures
of counterfeit electronic components? By George Karalias, Rochester Electronics
Every criticalmilitary systemdepends on semiconductors, whether its transportation, communication, navigation, weapons, informationmanagement, surveillance/intelligence, etc. These systems keep our country and ourmilitary personnel safe. A glitch in any of these systems could have compounding negative impacts on any number of others.
The Office of Technology Evaluation, which is part of the U.S.
Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry, recently released a survey entitled “Defense Industrial Base Assessment: Counterfeit Electronics.” This survey revealed that thousands of fake electronic parts have been found in the Department of Defense supply chains. And that is just the ones they found. It is not known howmanymore fake, damaged, and substandard parts are waiting to be put into action. This is not a static situation. In 2005, according to this report, 3,868 counterfeit electronics incidents were discovered; by 2008, the number had increased to 9,356. Although these are the most recent numbers published by the government, experts agree that there is no reason to believe that the numbers have not been steadily increasing.
24 | Annual Edition 2011 It’s bad enough when
a counterfeit part doesn’t work when it’s installed. At least technicians immediately recognize the problem and address it. But counterfeit parts often work when they are first installed; they only fail in a few weeks or months – either completely or with diminished functionality – when they are in the field.
Just the beginning
Many counterfeiters buy relatively inexpensive low-grade parts, remark them, and sell them at much higher prices as higher- grade parts for military applications involving high temperatures or extreme conditions such as violent, sustained vibrations. Other counterfeiters scavenge used parts and sell them as new. Others just blatantly manufacture and sell non-functioning parts.
But some experts saymalfunctioning parts are just the
beginning of the counterfeiting problem. An evenmore disturbing threat is the development of parts that have been dubbed “Trojan Horses.” These are electronic parts that come with added and unwelcomed bonuses – little “bugs” that are programmed, for example, to disable themilitary equipment in which they are
Is the effectiveness of the
U.S.military in jeopardy because
Director of marketing, Rochester Electronics, George Karalias
p26
www.electronics-sourcing.com
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