今年的 Defcon 骇客大会打破传统，不仅提供精心设计的会议徽章，更将重点放在硬体内部，由知名硬体骇客 Andrew "bunnie" Huang 打造了名为 Baochip-1x 的开源晶片。这款微控制器历时三年开发，旨在提升运算的安全性、透明度与信任感，其作业系统、韧体与处理器核心等原始码皆已在 GitHub 上公开。有别于传统封装在不透明塑胶中的晶片，Baochip 的设计允许红外线穿透矽晶片背面，让研究人员能直接以视觉检查其内部结构，确保制造过程中没有被植入后门，解决了长久以来的供应链信任问题。

打造这款晶片的契机源自于 Crossbar 公司与 Huang 的合作，双方透过共享晶圆制程大幅降低了高昂的制造成本，而 Defcon 创办人 Jeff Moss 的愿景则促成了这款晶片在徽章上的首度大规模发行。Moss 强调徽章应该具备超越大会期间的实用价值，因此 Baochip 的核心模组被设计为可拆卸式，能够作为 FIDO 硬体安全凭证或密码管理器使用。它内建的低解析度相机专为扫描 QR code 以进行身分验证而设，完全符合大会的隐私规范，同时徽章仍保留了互动性强的 LED 灯光功能，鼓励与会者进行社交互动。

在安全性方面，这款晶片运行以 Rust 编写的作业系统，具备安全启动功能、真乱数生成器，并采用了比传统快闪记忆体更难以被实体提取资料的电阻式记忆体（RRAM）。尽管 Huang 对其抵御远端攻击的能力深具信心，但他也不讳言，拥有庞大资源与精密硬体分析实验室的对手仍可能将其攻破。透过在 Defcon 发表，Huang 期待与会者能对这款晶片进行压力测试并找出潜在漏洞，从而在未来推动其支援 Linux 或发展成硬体安全模组（HSM），让开源安全晶片的技术持续进化。

Breaking from tradition, this year's Defcon hacker conference shifts the focus from elaborate badge designs to the internal hardware by introducing the Baochip-1x, an open-source chip created by renowned hardware hacker Andrew "bunnie" Huang. Three years in the making, this microcontroller aims to advance computing security, transparency, and trustworthiness by publishing its operating system, firmware, and processor core source code on GitHub. Unlike conventional chips encased in opaque plastic, the Baochip's packaging allows infrared light to pass through the back of the silicon, enabling researchers to visually inspect its internal structures and verify that no backdoors were introduced during manufacturing, thus solving a longstanding supply-chain trust issue.

The creation of this chip was made possible through a collaboration between Crossbar and Huang, who shared manufacturing runs to significantly reduce the exorbitant costs of fabrication, while Defcon founder Jeff Moss's vision led to its first major distribution. Emphasizing that the badge should have a practical life beyond the conference, Moss ensured the Baochip's core module is detachable so it can function as a FIDO hardware security token or password manager. Its built-in, low-resolution camera is designed specifically for scanning QR codes for authentication systems, strictly adhering to the conference's privacy rules, while the badge still retains interactive LED light features to encourage social engagement among attendees.

Regarding security, the chip runs a Rust-based operating system and features secure boot, a true random number generator, and resistive RAM (RRAM), which makes the physical extraction of stored data much more difficult than conventional flash memory. Although Huang is highly confident in its resistance to remote attacks, he acknowledges that adversaries with massive resources and sophisticated hardware-analysis labs could still potentially defeat it. By launching at Defcon, Huang anticipates that attendees will stress-test the chip and expose zero-day vulnerabilities, ultimately helping to refine its security and driving its future evolution to support Linux or become a robust Hardware Security Module (HSM).