SASVI

In a modern system, a single weakness in any hardware or software layer can compromise the whole, and networking in the Internet of Things and Industry 4.0 enlarges the attack surface. SASVI (Security on All Systems through Chains of Trust and Isolation) therefore does not start with individual components but secures all layers together.

• Trust anchors, such as dedicated hardware modules and digital certificates, in all hardware and software components, linked into chains of trust so that the security of the whole system becomes demonstrable
• Isolation of the components for control, communication and operation, so that none becomes an entry point to other layers
• Building blocks are secure RISC-V processor architectures, hardware-near operating system components, hardware roots of trust and trusted execution environments

The use cases come from water supply and wastewater, for example smart pumps with remote maintenance, monitoring and over-the-air updates.

Our contribution

The University of Lübeck takes part with the Institute of Computer Engineering and the Institute for IT Security. The ITI works on hardware roots of trust; one result is Single engine architecture for hardware root of trust (Journal of Cryptographic Engineering, 2025).

Partners and funding

Coordinated by NXP Semiconductors Germany, with KSB, SYSGO, SSV Software Systems, FZI Research Center for Information Technology and the University of Lübeck. Funded by the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (then BMBF) under the call "Security on all IT system layers", University of Lübeck grant 16KIS1578.