A method for detecting whether a target utility device that includes a plurality of electronic components is genuine or suspected counterfeit, the method comprising: performing a test sequence of energizing and de-energizing the target device of a specific model and collecting electromagnetic interference signals emitted by the target device during the energizing and the de-energizing; generating a target EMI fingerprint from the EMI signals collected during the energizing and the de-energizing of the target device; retrieving a plurality of reference EMI fingerprints from a database library, wherein each reference EMI fingerprint corresponds to a different configuration of electronic components of a genuine device of the same specific model as the target device, and wherein each reference EMI fingerprint is generated from reference EMI signals collected during performance of an energizing and de-energizing sequence on the corresponding configuration of the genuine device; iteratively comparing the target EMI fingerprint to individual reference EMI fingerprints in the plurality of reference EMI fingerprints and generating a similarity metric between each compared set of the target EMI fingerprint and the individual reference EMI fingerprint; and generating (335, 340) a signal indicating that the target device (i) is a genuine device where the similarity metric for any individual reference EMI fingerprint satisfies a threshold test, and (ii) is a suspect counterfeit device where no similarity metric for any individual reference EMI fingerprint satisfies the threshold test. performing a test sequence of energizing and de-energizing the target device of a specific model and collecting electromagnetic interference signals emitted by the target device during the energizing and the de-energizing; generating a target EMI fingerprint from the EMI signals collected during the energizing and the de-energizing of the target device; retrieving a plurality of reference EMI fingerprints from a database library, wherein each reference EMI fingerprint corresponds to a different configuration of electronic components of a genuine device of the same specific model as the target device, and wherein each reference EMI fingerprint is generated from reference EMI signals collected during performance of an energizing and de-energizing sequence on the corresponding configuration of the genuine device; iteratively comparing the target EMI fingerprint to individual reference EMI fingerprints in the plurality of reference EMI fingerprints and generating a similarity metric between each compared set of the target EMI fingerprint and the individual reference EMI fingerprint; and generating (335, 340) a signal indicating that the target device (i) is a genuine device where the similarity metric for any individual reference EMI fingerprint satisfies a threshold test, and (ii) is a suspect counterfeit device where no similarity metric for any individual reference EMI fingerprint satisfies the threshold test. (i) is a genuine device where the similarity metric for any individual reference EMI fingerprint satisfies a threshold test, and (ii) is a suspect counterfeit device where no similarity metric for any individual reference EMI fingerprint satisfies the threshold test.