Active Shield IP is a semiconductor intellectual property (IP) solution designed to protect integrated circuits from physical intrusive attacks. The technology implements a protective mesh layer placed over sensitive circuit areas that is actively monitored for tampering attempts. The solution defends against various physical attack vectors including wire micro-probing to read or force signals, wire cutting that could disconnect alarms or entropy sources, wire re-routing, burnt fuse opening, and ROM alteration. It also provides protection against bus probing and focused ion beam (FIB) attacks. The active monitoring system uses cryptographically generated random patterns to detect mesh integrity violations. This approach makes it difficult for attackers to modify or reroute the mesh without detection, as the data traveling through the shield mesh is generated by a cryptographic block cipher and cannot be predicted. The IP is fully digital and designed with standard cell libraries. The mesh can be interleaved with power/ground networks in topmost metal layers without requiring a dedicated layer. It includes drivers and receivers for electrical connection with the mesh, and a cryptographic-grade tamper detection module for monitoring mesh integrity. The solution is compatible with clock gating for power reduction, transferable to any design kit, requires no calibration after design, and provides an AMBA interface (APB, AHB, AXI) for system integration. It is designed to meet security certification requirements including Common Criteria.