Kernels for Safety? Reprinted from T. Anderson, editor, Safe and Secure Computing Systems,

Secure systems are often built around a “security kernel”—a relatively small and simple component that guarantees the security of the overall system. In this paper we ask whether this approach can be used to ensure system properties other than security—in particular, we are interested in whether “safety ” properties can be handled in this way. Our conclusion is that kernelized system structures can provide rigorous guarantees that certain faults of commission will not occur. We give a more precise characterization in terms of the formal statement that can be asserted for a kernelized system and we outline an approach to system design that uses these insights and draws on experience with secure systems in order guarantee certain safety properties.