Do they get the complete core designs including what transistor does what?
Depends on how large the customer is and/or how much they pay. They can also do 3D X-ray scanning to compare the layout provided with what is actually delivered. X-ray-ing stuff and closely monitoring manufacturing including cryptographically signed layouts for wafer production is pretty common in the militaries and other highly sensitive areas.
Depends on how large the customer is and/or how much they pay. They can also do 3D X-ray scanning to compare the layout provided with what is actually delivered. X-ray-ing stuff and closely monitoring manufacturing including cryptographically signed layouts for wafer production is pretty common in the militaries and other highly sensitive areas.
See also: https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-hunt-for-the-kill-switch / https://www.nature.com/articles/nature21698 / https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardware_backdoor