Reverse Engineering IC’s

A message I posted on the forum about the vulnerability of the programs store in a programmable device created a lot interest and e-mail.  Many e-mails asked for more information on vendors who can read programs from devices with the security bits blown.  I don’t want to encourage piracy so I don’t respond to these requests with more information.  Recently a YouTube video of a presentation on Low-Cost Chip Microprobing was brought to my attention.  It has some details on how chips are protected and how the protection is circumvented.  The talk can be found here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_MsQRpwRlw