Connecting Embedded and Enterprise Systems
Theta Maxino

Our world is continuously becoming a digitized world -- more and more
devices are being modified to incorporate the use of microprocessors,
whether it be to improve performance, bring down cost, or add more
functionality. These modified devices are typically called embedded
systems. Examples of these are your microwave oven, cellphone, and
car. Another trend we see nowadays is the interconnection of devices,
mainly through the internet but also through private networks -- what
we consider enterprise systems. We expect cellphones to be able to
connect to the internet, most GM cars can be connected to OnStar, and
though not common yet, internet-enabled microwave ovens are already
available.

Embedded and enterprise systems have very different
characteristics. What happens when these two systems are connected? 
Are there particular vulnerabilities that occur just because of the
inherent nature of these systems? This paper attempts to show that
there are vulnerabilities and demonstrate two of these. One
vulnerability is the susceptibility of the embedded system to data
loss due to timing variations which are inherent in enterprise
systems. Another vulnerability is the possibility of having event
showers on the enterprise system due to a faulty sensor on an embedded
system.

Through the use of a testbed, this paper will demonstrate that when an
embedded system expects periodic input from an enterprise system,
slight timing variations in the enterprise system will cause the
embedded system to retrieve incorrect information. On the other hand,
enterprise systems which only expect occasional input from an embedded
system may become overloaded or behave incorrectly when faulty sensors
on embedded systems start sending data continuously.