Kaspersky launches its own secure OS

Russian security software company Kaspersky has announced the development of a secure operating system. Installed on a network switch, this K-OS has been designed from scratch without borrowing from Linux, yesterday’s Le Monde Informatique reports

In security as doubtless elsewhere we are never better looked after than by ourselves. That’s what Kaspersky must be thinking when raising the curtain on its own secure operating system. Announced by company founder Eugene Kaspersky, this secure operating system has been loaded for the time being onto a layer 3 switch and it will also be used to secure IoT environments. “This OS just so happens to be ideal for applications where a small, optimized and secure platform is required,” Kaspersky remarked.

Few technical details have so far been released. One of the these is that the Kaspersky OS is based on a microkernel architecture enabling various changes to the operating system to be assembled according to specific customer requirements. In addition, a security system controls the behaviour of the OS’ applications and modules. “In order to hack this platform a cyber-baddie would need to break the digital signature, which – any time before the introduction of quantum computers – would be exorbitantly expensive”, Eugene Kaspersky warned.

Finally the software publisher pointed out that the Kaspersky OS is not based on any Linux component, thinking it was simpler and more secure to start from nothing when designing it, a process which started no less than 14 years ago.