BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Talks.cam//talks.cam.ac.uk// X-WR-CALNAME:Talks.cam BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:15 years of the CHERI Research Project: Reflections\, Current Work \, and Next Directions - Professor Robert N. M. Watson - Department of Com puter Science and Technology\, University of Cambridge DTSTART:20260204T150500Z DTEND:20260204T155500Z UID:TALK242233@talks.cam.ac.uk CONTACT:Ben Karniely DESCRIPTION:In 2010\, supported by DARPA\, SRI International and the Unive rsity of Cambridge embarked on a 4-year joint project to revisit the found ations of computer-system design to transformatively improve computer secu rity. 15 years later\, the CHERI Research Project has succeeded in those g oals through a long-term hardware-software-verification co-design\, drawin g for inspiration on both historic but abandoned ideas about hardware capa bility systems and far more recent concepts in microarchitecture\, archite cture\, programming languages\, operating systems\, and computer security. Our approach throughout has been highly empirical\, employing systems-res earch methodology via iterative FPGA-based hardware prototyping co-designi ng new Instruction-Set Architecture (ISA) features with changes to compile rs\, operating systems\, and applications\, as well as ongoing formal mode lling and verification to build confidence in the approach. The goal has b een to introduce strong\, fine-grained memory safety and support for scala ble software compartmentalisation across all software in a computer system \, while also walking a fine line between current software ecosystem adapt ability and the disruption necessary to achieve significant impact.\n\nIn 2015\, we began what is now a decade-long collaboration with Arm to explor e how to transition CHERI into a widely deployed production architecture\, and from 2019\, with support from the UK government\, Arm’s Morello pro totype architecture and board. Further critical industrial collaborations opened up\, including with Microsoft on the would become the open-source C HERIoT microcontroller\, with Google in developing key concepts in the app roach as well as exploring a large spread of potential deployment scenario s\, with Codasip in productionising a CHERI extension to the RISC-V ISA no w known as ‘RVY’ especially targeting application processors\, and wit h SCI Semi in bringing CHERIoT to the embedded space. These industrial eff orts are coming to fruition with first production CHERI-enabled silicon ex pected to come to market from multiple companies this calendar year.\n\nTh is talk will review the principles of the CHERI technology as well as our experimental approach to developing them\, discuss how large-scale softwar e work on both Morello and RISC-V is improving our understanding of how to use CHERI to improve software security\, look at ongoing standardisation efforts within RISC-V International and ETSI\, and review some of the exci ting CHERI-based products announced by industry over the last year. We wil l also explore how the CHERI ecosystem has expanded to include dozens of c ompanies via the CHERI Alliance CIC\, an industry membership organisation\ , and how the CHERI Research Centre at the University of Cambridge\, reach ing its first anniversary\, is contributing to ongoing research and techno logy transition. With the 15th birthday party of the CHERI Research Projec t due to take place in late March 2026 as part of the 2-day CHERI Blossoms 2026 conference\, and a month-long CHERI exhibit about to open in the Wil liam Gates Building\, join us for an exploration of this exciting research project and what the future may hold.\n\nProfessor Robert N. M. Watson is Professor of Systems\, Security\, and Architecture at the University of C ambridge\, where he is Director of the CHERI Research Centre. With Profess or Simon W. Moore (Cambridge) and Dr Peter G. Neumann (SRI)\, Professor Wa tson launched the CHERI Research Project in 2010\, leading development of the architecture. His work on CHERI has drawn extensively on past research and industrial experience\, including developing the OS kernel access-con trol techniques that now enable software sandboxing and compartmentalisati on in systems such as the open-source FreeBSD operating system\, Apple’s macOS and iOS operating systems\, and Juniper Networks’ Junos operating system. He was the winner of the 2021 EuroSys Jochen Liedtke Young Resear cher Award for his work on CHERI\, his 2015 paper introducing the principl es of CHERI software compartmentalisation won the 2025 Test of Time award from the IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy\, and his paper on CHERI-b ased memory safety won a IEEE Computer Society 2024 Best Paper Award.\n\nL ink to join virtually: https://cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/89473073451\n\nA record ing of this talk is available at the following link: https://www.cl.cam.ac .uk/seminars/wednesday/video/\n\nThis talk is being recorded. If you do no t wish to be seen in the recording\, please avoid sitting in the front six rows of the central section in the lecture theatre. Any questions asked w ill also be included in the recording. The recording will be made availabl e on the Department’s webpage LOCATION:Lecture Theatre 1\, Computer Laboratory\, William Gates Building END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR