World's first hack-free software developed

World's first hack-free software

MELBOURNE: A team of Australia's ICT Research Centre of Excellence's spinout company Open Kernel Labs (OK Labs) developed a microkernel The 'seL4' and claimed it to be the the world's first hack-free software which can protect systems from failure or malicious attacks.  It is a small operating system kernel which regulates access to a computer's hardware. Its unique feature is that it has been mathematically proven to operate correctly, enabling it to separate trusted from untrusted software, protecting critical services from a failure or a malicious attack, say the scientists.


In future applications, seL4 could ensure that trusted financial transaction software from secure sources like banks or stock exchanges can operate securely on a customer's mobile phone alongside "untrusted" software, such as games downloaded from the Internet, according to its developers.


Lead scientist Gerwin Klein said, "Our seL4 microkernel is the only operating system kernel in existence whose source code has been mathematically proven to implement its specification correctly. Under the assumptions of the proof, the seL4 kernel for ARM11 will always do precisely what its specification says it will do." 

1. SOURCE: TOI

   World's first hack-free software developed