Leading the Charge in Security: PTC Awarded Top Honors in 2024

PTC Perc Real-Time Java, a leading solution for Internet of Things (IoT) and mission-critical embedded systems, has recently been honored with the "Best in Show" award in the Security category at the Embedded World 2024 conference in Nuremberg, Germany. This prestigious accolade, presented by Embedded Computing Design, recognizes PTC Perc's innovative approach to real-time Java execution, which is essential for a wide range of applications in today's interconnected and intelligent devices.

PTC Perc's real-time Java environment is designed to meet the rigorous demands of IoT, edge devices, and embedded systems without compromising performance or integrity. With features like Ahead-of-Time (AOT) and Just-in-Time (JIT) compilation, deterministic garbage collection, and extended commercial support, PTC Perc delivers the efficiency of Java Standard Edition with the reliability required for real-time applications.

One of the standout features of PTC Perc is its deterministic garbage collection, which allows high-priority threads to preempt the garbage collector to run critical tasks. This feature is crucial for applications that need fast, deterministic responses to timed events or external inputs. Traditional Java Virtual Machines (JVMs) often suffer from "stop-the-world" garbage collection phases that force applications to pause for tens of milliseconds or even seconds. PTC Perc addresses this challenge, enabling real-time Java applications to perform more reliably and predictably.

PTC Perc's recognition at Embedded World 2024 is a testament to the innovative strides in the realm of embedded computing and to its design excellence, relative performance, and significant impact on the market. The product's innovative PVM Protect tool, which was developed in response to a defense contractor's need for enhanced security, played a significant role in securing the award. This tool exemplifies PTC Perc's commitment to advancing the state of embedded solutions and setting new standards for security and performance in the industry. PVM Protect represents a leap forward in protecting sensitive and critical systems against a growing range of cyber threats.

Why is it the best?

Traditional Java-based systems are deployed with “jar” archives containing proprietary software. The contents of jars are readily reverse engineered to source code. This poses a problem for systems in which confidentiality and security are critical requirements. Unlike traditional Java obfuscators, PVM Protect offers tamper-proof end-to-end encryption of Java application code, resources, and files from build to deployment to execution. Only target systems with TPM 2.0 hardware provisioned with a customer's private key can decrypt and launch a protected Perc Virtual Machine from RAM without storing decrypted code or data on disk.

Other security analysis and detection tools only identify a vulnerability or detect an intrusion, but leave it to the customer to decide how to remediate or block it. PVM Protect solves the reverse engineering problem by preventing tampering or examining a Java application’s code, resources, or files, whether in transit to a deployed system or on the system itself. PVM Protect is an end-to-end security solution rather than a tool to detect a security failure.

For a deeper dive into PVM Protect and its capabilities, please view the session recording presented at Embedded World.

For developers and companies looking to leverage IoT and IIoT technologies, PTC Perc Real-Time Java provides a robust platform that supports the development of sophisticated embedded systems. Combining real-time determinism with the portability of the Java language allows developers to upgrade embedded systems to newer, faster, and less power-hungry hardware, making it a forward-thinking solution in a rapidly evolving technological landscape.

As the embedded world continues to grow and evolve, PTC Perc Real-Time Java stands out as a leader in its field, driving innovation and excellence in IoT and embedded systems security.