Fake OPA627 on ebay

Counterfeit components cost the electronics industry billions of dollars each year. They also create dangerous situations and increase the risk of product failure. In this March issue of ECN, we identify the key battlegrounds in the fight against fake components.

• Seeing through the lies explores the idea of using x-ray techniques as a way of identifying counterfeit components, walking readers through the most common indicators of a counterfeit.

• Invisible bar codes offers up a solution to counterfeit components in the form of a covert micro-bar code that are virtually indestructible and invisible to the naked eye.

• Counterfeit mitigation looks at a report by the Semiconductor Industry Association detailing the ideal defensive maneuvers against counterfeit components.