PXI is the industry-leading platform used by engineers to build high-performance, mixed-measurement systems for validation and production test. These systems are used in many applications where security is a critical necessity.
PXI security is closely tied to the operating system (OS) being run by the controller. You have two choices when buying a PXI controller; you can buy a controller with Windows or with the NI Linux Real-Time OS.
Microsoft Windows 11 improves security in fundamental ways. Windows 11 Security and the Advantages for Test Applications describes how Windows 11 features apply to test systems.
Some PXI controllers include a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) chip. This chip can be used by the OS to store encrypted information that can be used to protect the PC in various ways. It can be used to detect malicious software during the boot process, access the encrypted drive of a computer, improve network authentication, improve VPN protection, and more.
TPM provides secure storage for authentication artifacts used by the operating system. However, the OS software must use the TPM chip for it to be valuable to the security of the system. Windows 10 and Windows 11 use TPM, so a PXI controller with TPM will be more secure when running Windows. TPM chips were optional in Windows 10, but they are a requirement to run Windows 11.
NI Linux Real-Time does not yet use TPM, but NI engineering teams are exploring ways to make test systems more secure when running NI Linux Real-Time on the PXI system.
There are two versions of TPM used, 1.2 and 2.0. 2.0 has become common and is the most widely supported version in NI's PXI controllers.
For a list of PXI controllers that include a TPM chip, please refer to Trusted Platform Module (TPM) Support for NI Controllers.
The registered trademark Linux® is used pursuant to a sublicense from LMI, the exclusive licensee of Linus Torvalds, owner of the mark on a worldwide basis.