Adoption of Cheri Technology II

The Secure by Design Managed Deployment project aims to stimulate the deployment of CHERI (Capability Hardware Enhanced RISC Instructions) technology in use cases within sectors of national importance helping to bolster the UK’s online defences, protect the public and safeguard growth – the central pillar of the Government’s Plan for Change. By supporting the translation of CHERI technology to commercial product, and demonstrating the benefits of adoption, the project will establish a commercially viable supply chain and accelerate wider diffusion. The intervention will unblock the adoption pathway to ensure the technology is fully tested and demonstrated in an operational environment.

Background

The Digital Security by Design (DSbD) 2019–2025 programme has matured the technology to a point where it is commercially viable. However, the private sector exhibits a pattern of underinvestment in the development and widespread adoption of memory safety developments. Without immediate action, this progress achieved through the DSbD programme could become outdated, making wider adoption more difficult and delaying or reducing its benefits for the UK. A standard adoption process would take much longer and fail to maximize the expected impact.