Comes up on the list every couple months so figured this might be interesting. http://www.forbes.com/business/free_forbes/2005/0328/068.html Forensic analysis of a chip's micro-landscape takes place in a separate, bigger lab, a special kind of hell called a "semiconductor failure analysis and deprocessing facility." Here the chips are dipped in acid until their skin peels off. A focused ion beam bores through the dielectric layers, and engineers blow some fuses and reconnect others to trick the chip into revealing its code. Out comes a stutter of electrical charges, ones and zeros, which can be translated back into comprehensible software commands. -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist