Tools: Secure Update & OTA Frameworks

1. Introduction

Secure Over-the-Air (OTA) update capabilities are a legal and technical necessity for connected devices. They allow manufacturers to remotely deploy security patches and new features, which is a fundamental requirement of modern cybersecurity regulations.

For a detailed explanation of the compliance requirements for OTA updates, see our guide on OTA Updates & Patching.

2. Build vs. Buy: Key Considerations

The decision to build a custom OTA solution or buy a commercial one is a critical strategic choice. While open-source tools like swupdate or TUF provide excellent, secure foundations, the engineering effort to build and maintain a complete, robust, and scalable OTA backend is significant.

• Time-to-Market: Commercial platforms can be deployed in a fraction of the time it takes to build a production-ready system from scratch. This can be crucial for meeting the CRA's compliance deadlines.
• Total Cost of Ownership (TCO): A "free" open-source tool requires significant investment in engineering, infrastructure, and ongoing maintenance. Commercial solutions have upfront costs but can offer a lower TCO by offloading this operational burden.
• Focus & Expertise: Building an OTA system requires deep expertise in embedded systems, cloud infrastructure, and security. Buying a solution allows your engineering team to focus on your core product's features and functionality.
• Compliance Acceleration: Commercial vendors often provide documentation, support, and pre-built integrations that can simplify the process of demonstrating compliance with the CRA's secure update requirements.

3. Tooling Landscape

The following tools provide end-to-end frameworks for deploying OTA updates to a fleet of devices. They handle the complexities of update creation, secure delivery, and on-device installation, ensuring that updates are applied reliably and without introducing new security risks.

Tool	Type	Description
QuarkLink	💰	A comprehensive IoT security platform that includes a secure OTA update module for creating and deploying signed firmware updates to devices in the field.
Mender	🐙💰	An open-source, end-to-end OTA software update manager for connected Linux devices, with both a self-hosted and a managed commercial offering.
The Update Framework (TUF)	🐙	An open-source specification and framework that provides a comprehensive, resilient design for securing software update systems.
swupdate	🐙	A Linux Update agent with a focus on creating a single, atomic update that is resilient against power loss. It supports signed updates and multiple update strategies.
RAUC	🐙	A lightweight, open-source update framework for embedded Linux systems that is safe, secure, and reliable. It supports cryptographic signatures and atomic updates.
Balena	💰	A complete IoT fleet management platform that includes robust OTA update capabilities for Linux-based devices, focusing on containerized applications.
Thistle Technologies	💰	A commercial security platform providing secure OTA updates for embedded Linux and Zephyr, with a memory-safe client and fail-safe fallbacks.
Uptane	🐙	An extension of TUF specifically designed for the high-security demands of automotive software updates.

Type: 💰=Commercial, 🐙=Open-Source