Embedded Software Engineering Ch.11 Explores Threat Modeling for Embedded Security

This chapter from the STATERA Library's Embedded Software Engineering volume examines security for robots and embedded controllers. It argues that security analysis must begin with a threat model identifying protected assets such as firmware, keys, and sensor and actuator data. Because embedded devices control physical processes, attacks can affect motion, power, and safety functions as well as data. The text stresses defining trust boundaries between components and interfaces, since every domain transition is an attack surface requiring authentication and validation. It also highlights physical access through debug ports and firmware vulnerabilities as major vectors, along with the limited security of many communication buses used in robots.