The “Embedded World” trade show is always a great place to feel the megatrends that transform our industry. Even if the show was held in an online format this year, speakers converged on the need for solutions to tackle security issues that plague many IoT deployments.  

The growing use of embedded systems exposes us to an always wider array of attacks. Typically, it is necessary to protect these devices from being counterfeited, avoid manipulation, data generated by objects to be unduly eavesdropped or, even, devices to be rendered inoperative. 

Typically, embedded systems optimize performance while keeping a small form factor and a limited power consumption. Security concerns include confidentiality, integrity and availability as well as the protection of the IP of the embedded software. The security of embedded systems is to be taken into account from their design and manufacturing phases. Solutions have been proposed for years at device level, but they are often complex in their implementation as they represent an additional cost, are heavily dependent on the characteristics of each object, and often require specific management procedures. 

Secure software libraries bring a technology breakthrough as they are now available to provide security to embedded software in the most diverse types of electronic devices. These secure libraries provide a series of functions that protect the embedded programs running in the MCU. They include cryptography algorithms used to protect the initial programming as well as subsequent embedded software updates, thanks to the use of authentication, encryption and signatures. These software libraries, using the latest obfuscation techniques, are developed to be compatible with any MCU and occupy a very small footprint driving their impact on the final product cost to unsignificant levels. 

Trusted Objects to-security offer includes secure libraries that allow embedded software developers to build their systems with peace of mind knowing that the finished products will be secure.