The REWIRE project envisions a scalable cybersecurity solution for open-source and open-specification hardware and software for IoT devices. University and industry partners of the REWIRE project will collaborate on researching and developing a tool chain that ensures that cybersecurity is integrated throughout the life cycle of a device on a zero-trust basis. This will include security assurance of processes starting at device on-boarding to a system, bootstrapping, securing communications with other devices on the REWIRE network, and software/firmware verification, including secure updates.
Secura is researching and developing a link of this tool chain that will ensure security threats can be effectively discovered and treated through an automated firmware validation and verification mechanism, targeted to device firmware used in smart cities, smart satellites, and smart automotive.
Binary analysis techniques
Using state of the art binary analysis techniques, Secura is developing a module that can detect flaws in software. Since the devices used in these contexts generally have very specialized code, detecting such flaws can be difficult. Software relies on certain hardware components that can vary from device to device, and in many cases the source code is not available. Secura's testing module therefore emulates the code as if it was running on its original hardware, and in the REWIRE project as a whole design decisions are made for the hardware architecture of the devices. This allows accurate analysis of flaws, contributing to more secure embedded software.
