In a notable advancement for the world of cyber and battlefield resilience, AdaCore had a significant presence at the CYBERUK conference in Bristol, United Kingdom. The company, known for its high-assurance, safe, and secure software toolchains, attracted attention with its showcase of Secure Avionics by Design (SAbD) technology.

SAbD is part of the groundbreaking Edge Avionics programme, a research initiative aiming to explore advanced system security through a real-world demonstrator avionics defense platform encompassing both hardware and software components. The Edge Avionics programme is backed by the UK’s Rapid Capabilities Office of the Royal Air Force, spearheaded by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) and supported by a consortium that includes notable industry players like GE Aerospace, Wind River, and AdaCore.

The initiative follows directives from the UK’s Ministry of Defence, mandating secure by design systems. The Edge Avionics is designed to test the security claims of the Digital Security by Design (DSbD) programme, which is a UK government-backed initiative in partnership with academia and industry leaders. One of the key technologies under the DSbD is Capability Hardware Enhanced RISC Instructions (CHERI).

CHERI aims to revolutionize CPU architecture by introducing dedicated registers and instructions that enforce secure memory allocation, access, and management directly at the hardware level. This method is expected to mitigate numerous memory-related vulnerabilities, fundamentally enhancing cybersecurity measures. The development of CHERI has received significant support, including investment from the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

AdaCore’s participation in CYBERUK emphasizes their commitment to adopt the latest innovations for improving the security integrity of avionic systems. The company showcased solutions that integrate the Ada programming language, known for its robustness in safety-critical systems, with the security-oriented GNAT Pro Ada runtime that fully leverages CHERI’s capabilities.

Paul Butcher, UK Programme Manager and AdaCore’s Project Manager for Edge Avionics, highlighted the efficacy of combining Ada with the Arm Morello, a CPU based on the CHERI ISA (Instruction Set Architecture). This combination aligns with the company’s strategy to develop and deploy highly secure software systems by leveraging advanced, security-enhanced processing architectures.

According to John Goodacre, Director of the Digital Security by Design Challenge Fund, the CYBERUK conference serves as an ideal platform to display and validate the commercial and operational potentials of the DSbD technologies within a controlled environment. The participation of AdaCore and its demonstration of secure avionics aligns with DSbD’s goals to create a more trustworthy and resilient digital infrastructure, showcasing how the integration of advanced hardware and software enhancements can elevate security measures within critical defense systems.

Overall, this event underscores a significant collaborative effort between government bodies, academia, and industry leaders to address the growing challenges in digital and cybersecurity, particularly within the defense sector. The emphasis on “secure by design” principles showcases a proactive approach to security, aiming to incorporate these principles at the foundational level of system design and architecture, thereby setting a new standard in the development of future defense technologies.