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Embedded RTOS Maker Raises Linux Security Issues
drquizas writes "Embedded RTOS provider Green Hills recently delivered an address where they raised the question of whether Linux can be considered secure enough to be used in defense applications. Much of the usual FUD is present in the remarks, although an interesting question is raised regarding what defense and other government contractors are required to do in testing code (in this case anyway): is the closed code here being held to a higher standard than its open-source equivalent, and does this change the 'security through obscurity' argument?"
I know Sun had to have a special version of Solaris just to meet these needs and Solaris was already considered very secure to begin with. I can't remember if MS released a secure NT for this reason as well or if they tried to and failed.
Talking about the openess of the linux code, there's another question I always wonder nobody asks. Sure Linux is open source and that's what helps it get better but I don't see the argument in terms of cost and security. Saying "you have the source you can see how secure it is" doesn't work for me. People buy an OS because it's cheaper to spend a few hundred or a few grand per PC than it is to hire the staff to build their own OS. Having to have the staff that can review, maintain and patch their own linux kernel alone isn't easy. It's something like 1.5 million lines of code right now. People want an OS that just works and is cheaper than building one themselves.
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Green Hill seems to be making some unsubstantiated claim that open source isn't held up to the same standards as closed source, and I find that rather funny. I think the real issue is, when Green Hill approaches the FAA or whatever, the FAA will do its own testing of the source. If Green Hill's code is breakable, Green Hill is the one responsible for fixing it. But, if what the FAA is reviewing is open source, it's possible the FAA can just fix the source themselves (and avoid having to pay an outside contractor). So, Green Hill, to avoid the scenario where the FAA might be displeased with Green Hill's RTOS and switch to open source, decides on its *own* to spend $500/$1,000 per line to audit their OS.
In the end, this means to me that Green Hill believes OSS has an unfair advantage. Personally, I think it's perfectly fair for people to offer free software. If Green Hill doesn't like it, tough. Or, they can just make their RTOS so good that the FAA or some other organization will be so impressed they won't bother going over some OSS and possible having to fix bugs or write documentation. Looks like the free market to me.
PS: SAYODF == Self-Analysising Your Own Dog Food; it's like a water bottling plant bitching about there being freshwater lakes because lakes don't have to do their own quality control
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I caught this story on OSNews yesterday and posted a rebuttal on my blog. This sort of thing probably doesn't carry a lot of weight with most of the defense types because the military is the very definition of mission critical, no pun intended. Peoples lives are at risk on a daily business in most jobs in the military these days. There is almost no price too high to pay for the freedom to design to specification that Linux provides.
Linux is certainly not ready to take over a lot of things yet, but it is good enough for many things that traditional defense contractors are involved with. I wouldn't trust it yet as an OS for our warships or other vehicles, but I would trust it for communication systems and things like that. For situations like that, a RTOS from a company like Green Hills may not provide enough benefit to justify the cost. Linux is free, their product isn't. They can try to get the military hooked for a while, but Linux will always be free and there are plenty of IT workers in the military who could work on existing RTOS Linux forks for military use.
Another thing that has to be kept in mind is that with the push for homeland security, the laissez faire attitude that has been prevalent toward security has to go. The miltiary wants transparency so it knows it's not getting something bugged all to hell by some Jihadi who wormed his way into Microsoft or Sun via the H1-B visa program. The Debian and Fedora teams are great for that very reason. Everything is open to public scrutiny, from the installer to every package so the military gets a chance to audit everything.
Free markets are great, but in this case the military has to perform a more core mission: defend the US from attack. If that means violating free market principles by pouring taxpayer dollars into a free OS for public use, then they should and most likely will do it eventually.
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I develop aircraft safety software, and the FAA's guidelines require that all code and tools must be certified at the same level of competency. Windows cannot be qualified as a valid development tool or environment, because it is closed source.
There are a huge number of yeast infections in this county. Probably because we're downriver from the bread factory.
The FAA approves software when it is written according the DO-178B specification. This specification states that software when developed must adhere to a development process.
This is defined within the D) 178b as software requirements, software specification, software design, source code configuration, and software test suites. If one changes one part then all levels affected must change as well.
Simply put a paper trail must exist for every change made in a system. It is stringent anal rententive form of development. It is costly since the amount of book keeping that must be done to incorporate changes.
This is the 'cost' that O'Dowd is refering to. In order to make a 'DO-178B' compliant version of Linux a group of developers/software house would have to:
1) Ensure that a comprehensive set of functional requirements is generated to match the desired platform.
2) Define a kernel that matches desired functional requirement. Any kernel portion that is not needed is defined out.
3) Specify the behaviour for each driver. Ensure the driver is fully specified. Work from the source and ensure that the behaviour of each execution path is documented.
4) Ensure that all changes to this build are reviewed and a paper-trail exists for all changes and changes are made for solid well documented reasons.
5) Use the documented behaviours to generate test cases that validate the documented behaviour.
It goes on and on...
There is nothing inherent within Linux that would prevent a DO-178B build to be created.
Only in the last 3 years has Green-hills has marketed a DO-178B compliant system. DO-178B as a standard has been around for I believe the last 10 years. Hmmm...
Research is what I doing when I don't know what I am doing - Werner von Braun
Yes, they do have their own chip fabrication facilities. The NSA has had one at Fort Meade for many years. I'm sure there are others.
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You are correct, medical device manufacturers do in fact use Windows in some cases, and I find it plausible that they use OS/2, although I am not directly aware of an instance.
However, I would also point out that medical device manufacturers are not held to development process standards or testing requirements as stringent as those applied in the aerospace industry. I won't get into the possible reasons for that, but the medical industry is a lot more self-regulating.
In my experience, "critical" in medical industry software means somewhat else than it does in my field. This based on having interviewed for some of those types of positions. ...
And for good reason. It was a clear case of Microsoft having bribed a congressional committee, and the first clue that many of us outside Microsoft got that El Senor Gates' ambitions reached beyond mere global domination of the software industry and great wealth. I think that aspect of it was not as widely discussed in the media, though.
"The Internet is made of cats."
However, very very little Defense software requires DO-178B level ANYTHING certification.
This certification does not mean that there are not bugs in the software. Based on some limited experience I would say it does not even imply that the compiler and OS that Greenhills provides actuall even works together.
In the end, selecting an environment for any system has little to do with a closed v.s. open source issue and more to do with selecting the tool fits the job. However, the portion of the trade space that deals with open v.s. closed would certainly tip in favor of Open since I have almost no hope of reviewing or discovering holes in a closed system.
--- Liberty in our Lifetime