The energy sector runs critical national infrastructure and deploys connected metering devices at scale, on deployment horizons measured in decades. A memory-safety breach in that setting means more than remediation cost: regulatory fines, device recalls and the potential for disruption to grid operations.
CHERI (Capability Hardware Enhanced RISC Instructions) and its embedded variant CHERIoT take a different approach from software mitigations. Spatial and temporal memory safety, pointer integrity and fine-grained compartmentalisation become properties of the silicon itself, not of any individual software component.
What the paper covers
- What CHERI and CHERIoT are, and why software mitigations fall short
- Why the energy sector is exposed: long-lived device fleets operating at scale
- Compliance as a market driver: the EU Cyber Resilience Act, the UK PSTI Act and NIS2
- Fleet economics: fewer emergency firmware updates and lower operating cost
- New business models enabled by compartmentalisation, including multi-vendor firmware
- The market opportunity, and who benefits
What we are building
As part of the CHERI Adoption programme, Hildebrand will deliver three products built on SCI Semiconductor's ICENI silicon:
- cSAPC: a CHERI-secured Standalone Auxiliary Proportional Controller compatible with GB SMETS2 meters
- cCOP11: a CHERI-secured asset meter for participation in GB's flexibility market
- CHERI Pi: a microcontroller development board for building and testing applications on CHERIoT
Smart meter manufacturers, energy suppliers and Meter Asset Managers who want to discuss reference designs, tooling or the regulatory picture are welcome to get in touch.