The tour showcased the NICTA-developed seL4 operating system, described by NICTA CEO Hugh Durrant-Whyte as “completely bug free and unhackable”. (Photo: Paris Cowan)
Professor Gernot Heiser from the University of NSW explained how the software partitions mission critical workloads from those parts of the operating system that are more vulnerable to attack. NICTA made the the code open source in recent years to encourage technologists to embed its “mathematically proven” security into the critical physical technologies, like heart pace-makers, cars and drones.
The software is based on the open source L4 system originally created by German computer scientist Jochen Liedtke and the current seL4 work involves a new generation of German collaborators.
Heiser wasn't able to display the seL4-based drone in flight, however - The Chancellor’s strict security demands meant it had to stay firmly grounded.