  Due to the globalization in the semiconductor supply chain, counterfeit
dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) chips/modules have been spreading worldwide
at an alarming rate. Deploying counterfeit DRAM modules into an electronic
system can have severe consequences on security and reliability domains because
of their sub-standard quality, poor performance, and shorter life span.
Besides, studies suggest that a counterfeit DRAM can be more vulnerable to
sophisticated attacks. However, detecting counterfeit DRAMs is very challenging
because of their nature and ability to pass the initial testing. In this paper,
we propose a technique to identify the DRAM origin (i.e., the origin of the
manufacturer and the specification of individual DRAM) to detect and prevent
counterfeit DRAM modules. A silicon evaluation shows that the proposed method
reliably identifies off-the-shelf DRAM modules from three major manufacturers.
