  This essay investigates the role of cost in the development and production of
secure integrated circuits. Initially, I make a small introduction on hardware
attacks on smart cards and some of the reasons behind them. Subsequently, I
introduce the production phases of chips that are integrated to smart cards and
try to identify the costs affecting each one of them. I proceed to identify how
adding security features on such integrated circuits may affect the costs of
their development and production. I then make a more thorough investigation on
the costs of developing a hardware attack for such chips and try to estimate
the potential damages and losses of such an attack. I also go on to examine
potential ways of reducing the cost of production for secure chips, while
identifying the difficulties in adopting them.
  This essay ends with the conclusion that adding security features to chips
meant to be used for secure applications is well worth it, because the costs of
developing attacks are of comparable amounts to the costs of developing and
producing a chip and the potential damages and losses caused by such attacks
can be way higher than these costs. Therefore, although the production and
development of integrated circuits come at a certain cost and security
introduces further additional costs, security is inherently unavoidable in such
chips. Finally, I additionally identify that security is an evolving concept
and does not aim to make a chip totally impenetrable, as this may be
impossible, but to lower the potential risks, including that of being
compromised, to acceptable levels. Thus, a balance needs be found between the
level of security and the levels of cost and risk.
