Paul N. Leroux and Kerry Johnson
QNX Software

The network connectivity of embedded systems has great benefits, such as remote monitoring and control. However, it also makes systems vulnerable to infiltration by a growing cadre of cyber terrorists. Developers therefore require not only techniques that build security into new systems, but also techniques that make legacy designs resistant to cyber attack. Systems designers and software developers must therefore enable their products with features that identify and contain threats, and allow software to recover from attacks quickly. These features must also consume a minimum of development effort and computing resources.

This paper explains how the technique of resource partitioning can provide a solution to these challenges. By providing guaranteed access to system resources, it can ensure the availability of critical services, even when your system experiences a heavy processing load or a denial-of-service attack.