Self-Executing Firmware for Industrial Memory Purging and Repurposing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing industrial automation components with memory face challenges in purging data securely to allow repurposing without risking data recovery, leading to costly destruction and waste.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a self-deleting firmware package that purges non-volatile memory by overwriting addressable locations multiple times with specific patterns, followed by a power cycle to clear volatile memory, ensuring data irrecoverability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If devices with memory are destroyed to prevent data recovery, then data security is improved, but resource waste and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the purging function from the main device by using a separate, dedicated purging firmware package stored in non-volatile memory. This extracted purging mechanism can be independently activated to sanitize memory without affecting the main device functionality, allowing secure data removal while preserving the hardware for repurposing.
Solution Approach 2:
The purging firmware package is pre-stored in non-volatile memory before the actual purging operation is needed. When data sanitization is required, the system retrieves and executes this pre-prepared purging firmware, which then performs multiple overwrite passes and power cycling to ensure complete data destruction before the device is repurposed.
2Reliability
If memory is purged using traditional methods, then data recovery prevention is improved, but device complexity and time required increase
Solution Approach 1:
The purging firmware package is designed to be self-executing and self-verifying. It automatically performs multiple overwrite passes on memory sectors, generates verification hashes to confirm purging completion, and handles the entire sanitization process without requiring external intervention or complex manual procedures, thereby simplifying the overall purging process.
Solution Approach 2:
The purging process continues sequentially through multiple overwrite passes and power cycling operations until verification confirms complete data destruction. The firmware maintains continuous purging action without interruption, ensuring that every bit of stored data is overwritten multiple times before the device is considered safe for repurposing.
3Adaptability or versatility
If devices are repurposed without memory purging, then resource utilization is improved, but data security risks increase
Solution Approach 1:
Before a device is repurposed, the system executes the purging firmware package in advance to sanitize all memory contents. This preliminary purging action ensures that no sensitive data remains in the device's memory when it is handed over for new use, allowing secure repurposing without compromising data security.
Solution Approach 2:
The purging firmware includes verification mechanisms that generate and compare hashes of memory contents to confirm complete data destruction. This feedback loop provides assurance that the purging process was successful and that the device is now safe for repurposing, building confidence in the security of the repurposed device.
Data Source
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AI summary
A non-transitory computer readable medium stores instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to receive, via the processor, a command to perform a memory purge; retrieve, from non-volatile memory, via the processor, code of a purging firmware package; store, in volatile memory, via the processor, the code; execute, via the processor, the code from the volatile memory, thereby causing the processor to purge the non-volatile memory; and cycle power to the industrial automation component, wherein cycling the power comprises purging the volatile memory.