The Fake Chip Scourge

This video is a pretty good discussion of the problems of fake ICs.

It starts with an example that is genuinely shocking - a fake IC being used in a military aircraft. I've worked in the electronics industry building test equipment, and the traceability requirements were fierce. A company avoiding that and using fake parts is surprising because they save a few dollars but destroy their reputation. The video gives other examples of counterfeit ICs that get into the defence supply chain.

I was pleased to see discussion about the difficulties caused by military certification of designs - these "lock in" designs making it very difficult to use substitute parts. So, when very old equipment needs to be serviced the parts simply aren't available new because they're not being made anymore. People are stuck having to use non-standard supply sources to get the items.