Kaspersky Embedded Security Solutions

Secure OS for the Internet of Things
Most IoT appliances
are based on common
operating systems
that are incapable ofaddressing specialized
security requirements

Introduction
The Internet of things is a new paradigm that is changing the world before our veryeyes. It could make our world safer, improve our health, save us time and money,
reduce waste and add a new dimension to production control and life in general.
The IoT concept encompasses a huge variety of appliances, gadgets, technologies,
software and communication protocols. This heterogeneous environment generates
lots of security risks that could seriously hamper any aspect of our life related to the IoT.
Our aim is to make the most of the IoT’s undoubted benefits, while minimizing
the associated risks.

Technical requirements• POSIX API (~98% API) compatible• Intel x86, x64 и ARM (v6, v7, v8)
Patents
The technologies that form the basis ofKasperskyOS and Kaspersky Security
System are covered by a set of patents:
US 7386885 B1, US 7730535 B1,US 8370918 B1, EP 2575318 A1,US 8522008 B2, US 20130333018 A1,
US 8381282 B1, EP 2575317 A1,US 8370922 B1, EP 2575319 A1,US 9015797 B1, DE 202014104595 U1.

Most IoT appliances are based on common operating systems that are incapableof addressing specialized security requirements.
These systems tend to be over-featured, with functionality that isn’t necessary forthe connected device. At the same time, almost no attention is paid to patching
the multiple vulnerabilities caused by poor design, bad implementation andimproper use of operating systems in these devices.
This deep integration of interconnected devices embedded into our daily
lives means security is of paramount importance. Because there are so many
embedded devices, it is wasteful and impractical to apply add-on security controls
to each IoT device. Security needs to be in-built, fitting the environment andsupporting system functionality without any restrictions.
The key pillar of built-in security is a proper security policy. Traditional ‘office use’security policies and policies for IoT devices are quite different. Instead of focusing
on unauthorized access to information, data corruption or DDoS attacks, IoT
policies should mitigate so-called thing-level attacks. These attacks exploit theexposure of the system to physical hazards, or result in physical consequences.
Due to the diversity of IoT applications, security policy enforcement mechanisms
must be as adaptable as possible. Security researchers have already come up withspecific security models for the IoT – thing-based access control (similar to rolebased access control), capability-based approaches, etc. The way security policies
are defined is also important: they should be clear and simple, but expressive
enough to make rules without flaws and omissions.
At the same time, security mechanisms should not weaken existing safetymeasures, hamper system functionality or significantly reduce system, application
or device performance.

PurposeTo address the issue of cyber security for IoT devices, while minimizing the timerequired to develop security features, we offer KasperskyOS, a secure operating
system based on an architecture designed to ensure software is executed
securely, including non-secure applications. In addition, KasperskyOS provides
protection in the event of random software errors and improper user actions.

Advantages

Features

Inherent security. KasperskyOS is secureby design and we intend to keep it that way
by using the best practices of softwaredevelopment.

One of the most important KasperskyOS components is Kaspersky Security
System (KSS) – a versatile security engine making it possible to define and checkcustom security policy for IoT applications.

Versatile modular architecture. Building
the system based on loosely coupledmodules helps minimize the amount oftrusted code and tailor each solution tospecific needs.

Kaspersky Security System is based on the principle of isolating the security
component from the information system’s functional components. This ensures
the system’s secure operation regardless of the way its functional components
are implemented, making it possible to build trusted systems using untrusted
components. As a result, the security policy can be modified without changing any
functional components. KSS supports the combining of different security models,
including the ability to use basic and specialized policies at the same time.

Well-designed applications. The
component-based approach to creating
secure applications makes developing
them relatively easy and convenient,helping reduce the amount of time needed
to take new products to market.
Flexible security configuration.
Well-designed configuration tools makeit easy to create declarative rule definitions
and combinations of rules to control
interactions in the system.
Separation of application features fromsecurity functions. The security
architecture is designed to separate
security functions from application
business logic, making both configuring
security policies and developing
applications easier.
Full-fledged security for attacheddevices. KasperskyOS is a reliable
platform for embedded systems that havespecial cybersecurity requirements.

KSS is about more than just malware protection; it also prevents common
violations of security rules. The solution adds security without harming production
safety. Kaspersky Security System is embedded in the firmware of IoT devices,computing security verdicts that are defined and configured by the manufacturer.
There are other additional security features that can be provided together with
KasperskyOS for IoT:

Trusted Channel
This is a set of components that can be used to organize a securecommunication channel between a device and a remote party.
The technology is based on the TLS protocol, a mature standard protocol
providing security for communications. Multiple implementations are available(including open source) from various vendors.
However, it is often the case that TLS-based solutions incorporate numerous
functions (e.g. Linux process) into one domain:••••

KasperskyOS is a secure
operating system basedon an architecture
designed to ensure
software is executed
securely, including nonsecure applications. Inaddition, KasperskyOSprovides protection inthe event of randomsoftware errors andimproper user actions

TLS implementation
Connection management
Application-specific protocol processing (e.g. HTTP)
And even more high level logic

It means all these functions must be considered as trusted: compromising
any of them results in a whole system being compromised.
Trusted Channel’s main objective is to minimize the size of trusted code byseparating secure connection, authorization and remote request processing.
In KasperskyOS, a secure connection is made with TLS in a separate
domain (entity), as well as authorization of the connection. Neither TLS norauthorization performs any application-specific message processing.
In this architecture, network modules, connection management and any
application-specific data processing (e.g. HTTP parsing) are treated asuntrusted. The only trusted components are TLS and authorization.

Secure Storage
Secure Storage is a key-value database with a simple interface, suitable forstoring important configuration parameters.
Every parameter in the database is associated with its own security attributes.
A security policy can be applied to get/set a particular parameter based on its security
attributes. It is also possible to specify a security policy for the whole configuration
update that ensures individual parameter updates are aligned with each other.
KSS uses secure storage to store security policy parameters. Storage can also be
used by any application in a system and a security policy has fine-grained control
over which application can use which parameters.

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