Embedded software vendor Green Hills Software has unveiled Integrity Secure Virtualisation (ISV) for ARM TrustZone technology, which is built on its Integrity RTOS.
The company said that the ISV reduces costs through processor consolidation, improves system security and reliability, and reduces the certification in mission critical applications such as banking, industrial control, and medical systems. It supports TrustZone technology enabled ARM cores including the ARM1176JZ(F)-S, Cortex-A8 and Cortex-A9 processors on system-on-chip (SoC) implementations.
According to Green Hills, the Integrity Secure Virtualization consists of the Integrity operating system technology coupled with facilities to execute one or more guest operating systems on TrustZone technology-enabled SoCs. It also provides a communications interface for the normal zone to request services of the secure zone. This architecture enables security and reliability-critical applications to safely execute with guaranteed memory, CPU time resources, and device access control.
Integrity uses its resource management and protection capabilities and the ARM memory management unit (MMU) to compartmentalise the secure zone into metazones. In addition to managing critical applications in the secure zone, Integrity can run in the normal zone, using paravirtualisation to host Linux and other guest operating systems, the company said.
In addition to the compartmentalisation and virtualisation of guest operating systems, ISV and its EAL6+ certified security policies delivers offering for security problems, including the ability to safely browse the internet and use email; protect sensitive personal and medical records; and guarantee the authenticity and integrity of cash withdrawals, wire transfers, point-of-sale transactions, and other financial applications, Green Hills said.
In addition to its security and reliability features, Integrity Secure Virtualization comes with tools and middleware ecosystem to help device manufacturers develop and deploy products faster. It is supported by many device drivers, network stacks, file systems, Java virtual machines, and other components – pre-integrated.
Gordon Jones, vice president of embedded virtualisation business unit at Green Hills Software, said: ARM’s TrustZone technology provides a high-performance yet power-efficient approach to virtualisation. Integrity Secure Virtualization enables the deployment of trustworthy applications, such as network authentication and digital rights management, sandboxed from the general purpose operating environment.
“This architecture enables ARM powered devices to enjoy the best of both worlds – uncompromising security alongside all the bells and whistles of Linux, Android, Windows Mobile, and other leading multimedia environments.
