Embedded Systems Design Europe - June/July 2008 - (Page 31)

Why open source is the natural choice for open source high-security BY ROBERT DEWAR ore and more of our day to day lives depend on software in an extremely critical way. Whether it is aircraft avionics when we take a ﬂight or simply car braking and control systems when we drive to work, we are putting our very lives into the hands of software. The good news is that if we go to the necessary trouble and expense, we are actually pretty good at creating near error-free software if the speciﬁcation is very clear. Not one life has been lost on a commercial airliner due to a software error. That’s not a bad record. This surprises some people, who think that it is normal for large systems to be full of errors, and for sure we are surrounded by unreliable software. The Boeing 777 airliner is actually a very nice illustration: the one component of the software that was not designed to meet safety-critical requirements was the cabin entertainment system, and as many experienced travellers know, this system is full of glitches and often breaks down. Many of the glitches seen with IT systems can be traced back to development errors such as inadequate testing, failure to capture the system requirements, or incorrect tool usage. However in today’s more volatile world developers have to factor in the possibility of external sabotage – whether malicious attacks, cyber terrorism or hackers trying to prove a point. Now it is not sufﬁcient to assure ourselves that software is free of bugs. We also have to be sure that it is free from the possibility of cyber-attacks. Any software that is critical is a potential target for attack. Not just avionics systems, but software that controls power stations, electricity grids, fuel depots or even stock exchanges could be at risk. And the fact that attacks haven’t happened shouldn’t make us relax – it is very much harder to protect software against such attacks than making it error free. The need to protect systems is growing. Software is now in the majority of devices around us, even down to the humble vacuum cleaner. In more and more cases it is impossible to verify that closed, proprietary code does what it is meant to and, more importantly, does not do what it is not meant to. While a vacuum M systems www.embedded.com/europe | embedded systems design europe | JUNE – JULY 2008 31 http://www.embedded.com/europe

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Embedded Systems Design Europe - June/July 2008

Embedded Systems Design Europe - June 2008 Contents Work in Progress to Define Compact PCI Plus Power.org Demonstrates New Tools Project Supports Multi-core System Programming Altium Links Electronic to Mechanical Design PLDs Look to Cut Power Budget and Costs Project to Provide Coverage Analysis Tool Microsoft Details Windows Embedded Update Cover Feature: Leveraging Virtual Hardware Platforms for Software Allocating Memory in MATLAB-to-C Code MDD & IDEs: Making the Twain Meet in Embedded System Designs Debugging Mixed Signal Designs for Infrequent & Random Events Why Open Source is the Natural Choice for High-security Systems Bringing the Benefits of Low Power CPUs to Modular Design New Products Advertising Contacts

Embedded Systems Design Europe - June/July 2008

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