Secure, trusted computing requirements rise as aerospace vendors go global

PHOENIX, 20 Jan. 2015. Aerospace and defense departments and prime contractors are looking to sell more globally; yet, risks are inherent in doing so. “As more and more platforms and systems are deployed, risk is there that assets will fall into at the hands of adversarial nations or people,” explains Steve Edwards, technical fellow and product marketing manager at Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions in Ashburn, Va.

Systems are taken apart and reversed engineered by adversaries, and the technological advantage is lost, Edwards affirms. “The more product [you have] out there, the higher the risk.”

This concern is being pushed down the “food chain” – it is coming down to commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) companies, Edwards continues. “It is driving security down to the COTS level.

“There are capabilities on the board level and software level to protect investment,” Edwards says. “There’s no one [perfect] solution, no magic bullet, for security; you need multiple pieces protecting each other. No one piece solves everything.

“Security or trusted computing is real, and companies are no longer getting waivers [to sidestep security requirements]. It is an up-front issue, and the COTS industry can solve it,” Edwards concludes.

Security image courtesy Shutterstock.