Five years ago, billions of embedded systems moved into the spotlight as pundits predicted Y2K failures that would disrupt manufacturing, power distribution, transportation, communications, water purification, cash dispensing, and weapon systems, among a multitude of other disasters. Governments and private companies around the globe spent thousands of man-hours and billions of dollars to analyze and update embedded firmware to successfully avert potential catastrophe. These same embedded devices now face new enemies from the growing number of hackers and terrorists attempting to create similar disruptions, force unplanned operation, or extract private information. This new reality places security concerns at the top of the priority list for any new embedded-system design.

By Warren Webb at EDN.

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