A method of reading lifecycle (LC) information at an integrated circuit (IC), comprising: for each of a plurality of lifecycle state descriptors (111; 113) of the LC information stored in a persistent storage module , wherein the LC information indicates a stage of manufacture or production of the IC: accessing the lifecycle state descriptor (111; 113) at the persistent storage module ; for each of a plurality of security stages (104; 108; 110; 114) determining a lifecycle state transition of a security module of the IC by: executing at least three iterations of a corresponding security operation based on the lifecycle state descriptor; determining a validity of a portion of the lifecycle state transition assigned to the stage corresponding to the lifecycle state descriptor by combining results of the at least three iterations; and verifying the lifecycle state transition by verifying an output of the security stage; and in response to at least one of the plurality of security stages indicating an error, identifying the LC information as invalid for the integrated circuit. for each of a plurality of lifecycle state descriptors (111; 113) of the LC information stored in a persistent storage module , wherein the LC information indicates a stage of manufacture or production of the IC: accessing the lifecycle state descriptor (111; 113) at the persistent storage module ; for each of a plurality of security stages (104; 108; 110; 114) determining a lifecycle state transition of a security module of the IC by: executing at least three iterations of a corresponding security operation based on the lifecycle state descriptor; determining a validity of a portion of the lifecycle state transition assigned to the stage corresponding to the lifecycle state descriptor by combining results of the at least three iterations; and verifying the lifecycle state transition by verifying an output of the security stage; and in response to at least one of the plurality of security stages indicating an error, identifying the LC information as invalid for the integrated circuit. accessing the lifecycle state descriptor (111; 113) at the persistent storage module ; for each of a plurality of security stages (104; 108; 110; 114) determining a lifecycle state transition of a security module of the IC by: executing at least three iterations of a corresponding security operation based on the lifecycle state descriptor; determining a validity of a portion of the lifecycle state transition assigned to the stage corresponding to the lifecycle state descriptor by combining results of the at least three iterations; and verifying the lifecycle state transition by verifying an output of the security stage; and executing at least three iterations of a corresponding security operation based on the lifecycle state descriptor; determining a validity of a portion of the lifecycle state transition assigned to the stage corresponding to the lifecycle state descriptor by combining results of the at least three iterations; and verifying the lifecycle state transition by verifying an output of the security stage; and in response to at least one of the plurality of security stages indicating an error, identifying the LC information as invalid for the integrated circuit. <EOS>