By basing their products on IGLOS, manufacturers of machinery, railway and medical technology, as well as other industrial applications, can rely on a maintainable and certifiable platform that simplifies compliance with safety requirements, shortens development times and ensures the long-term operational safety of systems.
“New cybersecurity laws present significant challenges for our customers’ development departments, both in terms of technical complexity and workload,” says Wilfried Wessner, Managing Director of Linutronix GmbH. “As a result, necessary and legally mandated security updates often cannot be implemented or are only applied with considerable delay.”.
IGLOS was developed to provide manufacturers with a reliable, standardized, and adaptable foundation for embedded Linux systems. IEC 62443 certification is crucial in many industries as proof of the highest security requirements. IGLOS offers a solid foundation for meeting regulatory requirements, as it complies with all operating system requirements according to IEC 62443-4-2 and includes the complete documentation package necessary for certification. The platform offers a comprehensive security architecture with secure boot, mandatory access control, firewall, memory integrity, encryption, audit logging, and a secure over-the-air (OTA) update mechanism. This establishes a complete security chain to mitigate attacks at an early stage and protect all components during operation.
A key advantage is optional virtualization support: control systems no longer need to run on dedicated hardware but can instead operate as virtual programmable logic controllers (vPLCs) in edge cloud infrastructures. This enables more efficient use of IT infrastructure and facilitates future system upgrades and expansions. The provided Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) offers transparency regarding all included software components and allows for rapid response to vulnerabilities, facilitating compliance with requirements such as CRA and NIS-2. Depending on the intended use, zero-touch onboarding and centralized device management enable automated commissioning and management of new equipment throughout its entire lifecycle.
IGLOS is suitable for real-time applications and provides cybersecurity to control systems in all industrial sectors
Linutronix operating systems have been used for decades in numerous sectors, including programmable logic controllers (PLCs), industrial sensors, industrial PCs in combine harvesters, laser systems, crane systems, and medical devices. With IGLOS, Linutronix has developed a platform to meet the most stringent security requirements of these industries. The platform has also proven to be a reliable foundation in critical infrastructure such as power supply and healthcare facilities.
In robotics, IGLOS enables high-precision motion sequences under real-time requirements, protects control systems, and ensures upgradeability for many years. Another area of application is railway technology. Together with Syslogic, a comprehensive solution based on railway computers has been implemented. This reference implementation allows manufacturers to complete their own certifications significantly faster, reduces time-to-market, and provides verifiable security. Regular security patches and predictable lifecycle management ensure stable and safe operation for many years—an invaluable advantage for systems with long lifespans.
"With IGLOS, we created from day one a certifiable base that is secure, updatable and stable," says Wessner.
Linutronix stands out for its deep roots in the Linux ecosystem and the team's more than twenty years of experience in real-time environments. The company's team includes key maintainers of the Linux kernel and Debian. Customers benefit from this extensive experience, which forms a continuously evolving and future-proof foundation for IGLOS. This expertise is constantly being incorporated into IGLOS and ensures that future requirements are also met, for example, through the integration of OPC UA FX, TSN, and DetNet to securely transmit machine data in real time and enable seamless IT/OT integration.
IGLOS consistently relies on open standards and proven open-source components, helping to avoid vendor lock-in and enabling long-term, autonomous operation of systems without recurring licensing costs. Additionally, support contracts guarantee short response times to security vulnerabilities or unexpected system behavior. Customers save time and money, gain a robust platform, and can focus entirely on their core applications. Standardized security features, a clear architecture, and a reduced workload for development teams result in faster development cycles and lower maintenance costs.
"Our customers benefit from not having to create the conditions for cybersecurity and future-oriented operating systems themselves: IGLOS incorporates everything necessary," says Wessner.
