As embedded systems become increasingly software-driven, development workflows have shifted earlier through virtualization and electronics digital twin technologies. However, key security checks, such as secure boot and firmware integrity, are still often delayed until physical hardware is availabl, which creates risk, slows development and increases costs when issues are discovered late.
To address this, OmniTrust and Synopsys have partnered to help development teams identify and fix critical security issues earlier in the embedded systems lifecycle by enabling secure boot validation within virtual ECU (vECU) environments.
The collaboration aims to close this gap between software and hardware by bringing security validation into the early stages of development. By combining Synopsys’s vECU solutions with OmniTrust’s embedded trust capabilities, teams can run production firmware in virtual environments and validate both expected and tampered scenarios long before hardware is ready.
This approach enables developers to observe and test secure boot behavior as part of standard software workflows, including automated regression testing. As a result, teams can detect vulnerabilities sooner, reduce integration risks and accelerate time to market.
OmniTrust provides core embedded security capabilities such as secure boot policy validation, firmware signature verification and cryptographic trust anchor management. When integrated into Synopsys’s virtual development environments, these capabilities enable developers to treat security enforcement as a continuous, testable part of modern software development.
“As automotive architectures become increasingly software-defined, automotive companies must integrate security validation as part of their software development,” said Marc Serughetti, vice president, product management and markets group, Synopsys. “Our collaboration with OmniTrust enables development teams to leverage electronics digital twins and integrate trust validation into their software development before hardware is available. Our joint customers can accelerate time to market and innovation with greater confidence in the security of their systems.”
“Secure boot and firmware authenticity are essential for system integrity, yet often checked later in development,” said Albert Rooyakkers, SVP of business development at OmniTrust. “Synopsys virtual ECUs enable early security validation, automated testing and authenticated software deployment in production.”
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