High Security RTOS

This talk explores the features that can be added to an RTOS to create more secure microcontroller software. We start with the advantages of partitioning. Then show how to partition code and how to isolate the partitions. These methods build upon the security features of the Cortex-M architecture. Next, methods are introduced to limit system damage by malware that has invaded a partition. The talk includes numerous diagrams and code samples and emphasis is upon practical solutions that work. The presentation is expected to be beneficial to both programmers and security experts -- it introduces many new concepts that go beyond best programming practices. The talk concludes with suggestions for microcontroller security improvements to further advance the state of the art.

Micro Digital is the developer of SMX® RTOS and SecureSMX®. These began with the smx multitasking kernel released in 1989, and continued with the release of many middleware modules, to form a complete RTOS. SecureSMX, our secure RTOS, enables OEMs to incorporate effective security protection into their embedded and IoT devices within reasonable time and cost constraints. It allows dividing software for ARM Cortex-M microcontroller-based embedded systems into isolated partitions, to limit invasions from reaching sensitive code, data, and I/O. Our focus is now on security.