Kaspersky, popular antivirus solutions company, announced its secure operating system KasperskyOS for network devices, IoT and industrial control systems. The company has been working on this OS for past 14 years.
Before you relate this OS with Linux, you should know that there is not a single string of Linux code in it. This OS has been designed from scratch for different applications and purposes. The OS takes only the concept from the Flux Advanced Security Kernel (FLASK) architecture.
The company further explains, “KasperskyOS aims to protect software and data systems from the consequences of the intrusion of malicious code, viruses and hacker attacks.”
The primary reason why the company took initiative to build this OS is that it felt the need of a secure OS to maintain the security of growing Internet-of-Things and embedded devices in industrial control systems. As these devices are now used for critical tasks, security is an important aspect.
Supported architectures include:
- KasperskyOS for x86/x64 CPU: Pentium II or higher, RAM: 8MB or more
- Ethernet: Realtek RTL8139, Intel i82580
- KasperskyOS for ARM CPU: ARMv7 or higher, RAM: 8MB or more
The company has created three different products: An OS (KasperskyOS), a standalone secure hypervizor (KSH) for running virtual machines and a system used for secure interaction between OS components (KSS). These can address different challenges depending on the application.
SYSGO, a German company, has already licensed KSS to use it in its own OS PikeOS. Some vendors are also interested in using the hypervisor (KSH) for securely running existing applications.
