Inside the New RTI Security Plugins Getting Started Guide

**Please note that with the April 2024 release of Connext Professional 7.3 LTS, the functionalities formerly comprising Connext Secure are now available as an optional component to Connext Professional, named Security Extensions. 

Need to add security to your RTI Connext^® DDS application? It just got even easier! 

At RTI, we know security is an essential requirement of the cutting-edge systems our customers are developing. That's why we've been working hard to put together the content that you need to get started with security, in a form-factor that lets you “learn as you go.” And now it’s finally here: Our Security Team is pleased to announce the release of our all-new RTI Security Plugins Getting Started Guide.

How to Leverage RTI DDS for Your Security Needs

Following hot on the heels of our recent Connext DDS Getting Started Guide, you’ll find we’ve used the same modular approach with hands-on exercises that build on each other, using real-world use cases and practical steps to help you quickly leverage RTI Security Plugins. In addition to offering a more modern and easy-to-use design, the guide is available in two versions for C++ APIs: Traditional C++ (C++98) and Modern C++ (C++11).

In each of the four hands-on sections, you’ll read a little theory, just enough to understand the exercises. So you can learn by doing, a little at a time. At the end of each hands-on, you’ll see ideas for more experiments to deepen your knowledge. The exercises are based on a hospital’s patient monitoring system and the classic characters in security, Alice, Bob and the gang:

This new guide provides more of the basics on how to secure a DDS domain and is less dependent on your knowledge of the OMG^® Security Specification. You’ll learn the concepts and the “how-to” on these topics:

• DDS Systems threads and how DDS Security addresses/mitigates them
• Security artifacts/files that provide security for your system
• Creating a DDS secure system from scratch: Learn how to create a project with RTI Code Generator and provide it with the security artifacts that the RTI Security Plugins need. Then configure how your system/DDS Domains will be protected and give granular permissions to your DomainParticipants.

We’ve also updated the Security Plugins User’s Manual, which is now home to even more of the deep-dive information on the plugins.

Get More from RTI

More content for the RTI Security Plugins Getting Started Guide is in the pipeline. Stay tuned for updates by checking the News feed in RTI Launcher’s What’s New tab. As always, we welcome your feedback! Please reach out to us at: documentation@rti.com.

About the authors

Adelle Olson is a Senior Technical Writer at RTI. In her 20+ years at RTI, she’s written documentation for every RTI product. Prior to RTI, she worked at AT&T as a software developer for 16 years. Adelle holds a B.S. in Information Systems from the University of South Florida.

Cristian G Guerrero is a Software Developer on the RTI Security team. His professional interests include: quality and robustness; critical and resource-constrained systems; safety and security; and user experience. Prior to joining RTI in 2018, Cristian worked in security for embedded systems at Seven Solutions. Prior to that, he completed an internship at Infineon, where he won the Chip Card & Security (CCS) Special Award for the project Internet of Things & Security Arduino Shields. Cristian holds a master's in Data Science and Computer Engineering and a degree in Telecommunications Engineering from the University of Granada.