2 cissp ® Official Study Guide Eighth Edition

 Examples of Embedded and Static Systems 
Network-enabled devices are any type of portable or nonportable device that has native 
network capabilities. This generally assumes the network in question is a wireless type of 
network, primarily that provided by a mobile telecommunications company. However, it 
can also refer to devices that connect to Wi-Fi (especially when they can connect automati-
cally), devices that share data connectivity from a wireless telco service (such as a mobile 
hot spot), and devices with RJ-45 jacks to receive a standard Ethernet cable for a wired 
connection. Network-enabled devices include smartphones, mobile phones, tablets, smart 
TVs, set-top boxes, or an HDMI stick streaming media players (such as a Roku Player, 
Amazon Fire TV, or Google Android TV/Chromecast), network-attached printers, game 
systems, and much more. 
In some cases, network-enabled devices might include equipment support-
ing Bluetooth, NFC, and other radio-based connection technologies. Addi-
tionally, some vendors offer devices to add network capabilities to devices 
that are not network enabled on their own. These add-on devices might 
be viewed as network-enabled devices themselves (or more specifically, 
network-enabling devices) and their resultant enhanced device might be 
deemed a network-enabled device.
Cyber-physical systems
refer to devices that offer a computational means to control 
something in the physical world. In the past these might have been referred to as embed-
ded systems, but the category of cyber-physical seems to focus more on the physical world 
results rather than the computational aspects. Cyber-physical devices and systems are 
essentially key elements in robotics and sensor networks. Basically, any computational 

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Assess and Mitigate Vulnerabilities 
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device that can cause a movement to occur in the real world is considered a robotic ele-
ment, whereas any such device that can detect physical conditions (such as temperature, 
light, movement, and humidity) is a sensor. Examples of cyber-physical systems include 
prosthetics to provide human augmentation or assistance, collision avoidance in vehicles, 
air traffic control coordination, precision in robot surgery, remote operation in hazardous 
conditions, and energy conservation in vehicles, equipment, mobile devices, and buildings.
Another extension of cyber-physical systems, embedded systems, and network-enabled 
devices is that of the 
Internet of Things (IoT)
. As discussed earlier, the IoT is the collec-
tion of devices that can communicate over the internet with one another or with a control 
console in order to affect and monitor the real world. IoT devices might be labeled as smart 
devices or smart-home equipment. Many of the ideas of industrial environmental control 
found in office buildings are finding their way into more consumer-available solutions for 
small offices or personal homes. IoT is not limited to static location equipment but can also 
be used in association with land, air, or water vehicles or on mobile devices. IoT devices are 
usually static systems since they may only run the firmware provided by the manufacturer.
Mainframes are high-end computer systems used to perform highly complex calculations 
and provide bulk data processing. Older mainframes may be considered static environments 
because they were often designed around a single task or supported a single mission-critical 
application. These configurations didn’t offer significant flexibility, but they did provide for 
high stability and long-term operation. Many mainframes were able to operate for decades.
Modern mainframes are much more flexible and are often used to provide high-speed 
computation power in support of numerous virtual machines. Each virtual machine can 
be used to host a unique OS and in turn support a wide range of applications. If a modern 
mainframe is implemented to provide fixed or static support of one OS or application, it 
may be considered a static environment.
Game consoles, whether home systems or portable systems, are potentially examples of 
static systems. The OS of a game console is generally fixed and is changed only when the 
vendor releases a system upgrade. Such upgrades are often a mixture of OS, application, 
and firmware improvements. Although game console capabilities are generally focused on 
playing games and media, modern consoles may offer support for a range of cultivated and 
third-party applications. The more flexible and open-ended the app support, the less of a 
static system it becomes.
In-vehicle computing systems can include the components used to monitor engine per-
formance and optimize braking, steering, and suspension, but can also include in-dash ele-
ments related to driving, environment controls, and entertainment. Early in-vehicle systems 
were static environments with little or no ability to be adjusted or changed, especially by 
the owner/driver. Modern in-vehicle systems may offer a wider range of capabilities, includ-
ing linking a mobile device or running custom apps.