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Dev tools · alternatives · 2026

24 alternatives to CambiOS – a new Rust-based, sovereign identity, zero-trust OS

Hello HN, What is CambiOS? A microkernel OS built in Rust, that boots in QEMU under x86_64, AArch64, and RISC-V - targeting formal verification. Processes are assigned unforgeable cryptographic identity and IPC gates access to only allowed endpoints. What does it want to be? Ambitious. Cutting away latent security issues, corporate surveillance, centralized identity and data hosting, and OPEN. With the advent of the coding tools, building the things we want is a bit less of a lift. Could it replace Windows? Sure. That's where the idea was born. Secure and intuitive, in a nutshell. I've been…

Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes.

  1. 1

    To try it out, simply build the project yourself from source, or use attached bootable ISO image of the system (in Releases on Github) and run it in QEMU. https://blog.vxn.dev/rou2exos-rusted-edition

    2025 · github.com · its alternatives →

  2. 2

    VEKOS(Verified Experimental Kernel OS) is a Rust-based experimental kernel that focuses on runtime verification and security. Every filesystem operation and memory allocation generates cryptographic proofs that can be verified in real-time, ensuring system integrity. Think of it like a blockchain for OS operations rather than just storage verification. Key features: - Merkle tree-backed filesystem with operation verification - Memory manager with CoW and proof generation - Buddy allocator with zone-based memory management - Shell with VT100 support - Verified boot sequence with stage…

    2024 · github.com · its alternatives →

  3. 3RA
  4. 4

    This project contains no code from Linux, BSD, Minix, or any other OS. Everything up until this point is written entirely from scratch, including a pure microkernel (that only implements multiprocessor priority scheduling, memory management, and interprocess communication), a work-in-progress implementation of the standard C library, and a variety of servers that provide drivers and other essential OS functionality. At the time of writing this post, the servers provide drivers for the keyboard, NVMe SSDs (that works on real hardware), a Unix-like virtual file system (with a single root…

    2024 · github.com · its alternatives →

  5. 5

    Use Touch ID / Secure Enclave for SSH Authentication! - sekey/sekey

    2017 · github.com · its alternatives →

  6. 6

    Open source security data lake for threat hunting, detection & response, and cybersecurity analytics at petabyte scale on AWS - matanolabs/matano

    2022 · github.com · its alternatives →

  7. 7

    This is a project I made to learn more about crypto. I've also written a [post](https://vaktibabat.github.io/posts/ecurvechat/) that explains all the crypto concepts and algorithms used in the project, and how I implemented them. I'd be very glad for any feedback about both the code and the post :)

    2024 · github.com · its alternatives →

  8. 8

    :crab: 464b rust binary on windows. Contribute to mcountryman/min-sized-rust-windows development by creating an account on GitHub.

    2020 · github.com · its alternatives →

  9. 9

    Rust crypto w/ zero default deps: BLAKE3, Ed25519/X25519, hashes, MACs, KDFs, AEADs, and checksums w/ full SIMD/ASM acceleration - GitHub - loadingalias/rscrypto: Rust crypto w/ zero default deps: BLAKE3, Ed25519/X25519, hashes, MACs, KDFs, AEADs, and checksums w/ full SIMD/ASM acceleration

    Jun 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →

  10. 10

    Encryption and key management for C# and Java

    2016 · crypteron.com · its alternatives →

  11. 11

    Security-oriented OS for single-user desktop computing

    2022 · qubes-os.org · its alternatives →

  12. 12
    CISO▲74

    Next generation cryptocurrency forensics platform

    2021 · ciso.anchainai.com · its alternatives →

  13. 13OT

    In the past few days, there have been uncertainties and concerns about the LUKS (“Linux Unified Key Setup”) disk encryption, which is widely used on Linux. We publish our assessment of this here.

    2023 · dys2p.com · its alternatives →

  14. 14

    Alternative to magic.h and infer. Zero dependencies. Fully extensible. Works in no_std, async, and embedded contexts.

    2025 · crates.io · its alternatives →

  15. 15AC

    I built this toolkit with my colleague to dive deep into OS internals and automate the identification of privilege escalation vectors. Written in pure C without external dependencies, it explores everything from Linux capabilities and Docker escapes to Windows token manipulation and service permissions. We believe that the constant struggle between breaking and securing systems is the ultimate driver of software evolution. This tool is our contribution to that cycle, designed for researchers who want to understand how low-level misconfigurations can be discovered and audited across different…

    Jan 2026 · its alternatives →

  16. 16SO

    Adversary-resistant computing: an immutable, verifiable operating system with isolated workspaces, plus expert security services.

    2016 · subgraph.com · its alternatives →

  17. 17

    I've always been fascinated by cryptographic principles, so I decided to dive deep into zero-knowledge proofs and implement a Groth16 proof verifier entirely in Rust. This project validates cryptographic proofs and demonstrates how succinct, verifiable computations can be achieved. Using Rust's powerful libraries like arkworks, I implemented pairing checks, public input commitments, and proof validation logic while ensuring the code remains modular and efficient. I handled the complexities of affine group operations, scalar multiplications, and optimized public input verification to make…

    2024 · github.com · its alternatives →

  18. 18

    Lilith Zero is a high-performance security runtime designed to mitigate data exfiltration and unauthorized tool invocation in LLM-based agent systems. By interposing at the transport layer, Lilith Zero enforces security invariants through deterministic policy evaluation and strictly framed execution. Lilith Zero is OS, framework, and language agnostic, providing uniform security primitives across diverse implementation environments.

    Apr 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →

  19. 19

    My name is Nir! I am one of the three co-founders of arnica.io. I’ve worn many hats in cyber security over the years – sys admin, pen-tester, security architect, and Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). What really gets me excited about my work is making security easy and effective for developers and ops teams! In my last role, at one of the top 3 FinTechs, following the attack against Solarwinds, the CEO asked me what we are doing to secure our software supply chain. I met with 15+ vendors, did a few POCs, but unfortunately each solution either increased operational cost or was too…

    2022 · arnica.io · its alternatives →

  20. 20

    Hi HN! I've been building a project that handles high-value credentials in-process, and I wanted something more robust than just zeroing memory on drop. A comment on a recent Show HN[0] made me realize that awareness of lower-level memory protection techniques might not be as widespread as I thought. The idea here is to pull out all the tools in one crate, with a relatively simple API. * mlock/VirtualLock to prevent sensitive memory from being swapped (eg the KeePass dump) * Core dump exclusion using MADV_DONTDUMP on Linux & Android * mprotect to minimize exposure over time * Guard…

    Mar 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →

  21. 21RA

    Hi, I've made a Dis virtual machine and Limbo programming language compiler (called RiceVM) in Rust. It can run Dis bytecode (for example, Inferno OS applications), compile Limbo programs, and includes a fairly complete runtime with garbage collection, concurrency features, and many of the standard modules from Inferno OS's original implementation. The project is still in an early stage, but if you're interested in learning more about RiceVM or trying it out, you can check out the links below: Project's GitHub repo: https://github.com/habedi/ricevm RiceVM documentation:…

    Apr 2026 · its alternatives →

  22. 22

    Hello. I made this project as an experiment in using key cryptography for user identity in a client server model, and for some future peer to peer projects that I am working on. I am looking for feedback, please let me know what you think. Also, Merry Christmas to HN! :-)

    2022 · github.com · its alternatives →

  23. 23

    A hobbyist microkernel written in Rust, featuring a capability-based system similar to seL4. - sorpaas/rux

    2017 · github.com · its alternatives →

  24. 24

    Over the past few months, as we scaled our internal AI Agents, we hit a dead end: Running LLM-generated arbitrary code in Docker is basically running naked on security due to container escape risks. But using full traditional VMs takes minutes to boot and eats too much memory to support high-density concurrency. We loved the developer experience of SaaS sandboxes on the market, but they are closed-source, expensive, and have too high a barrier to entry for self-hosting. So, our team decided to build our own. After months of grinding, using RustVMM and KVM, we built a blazing-fast,…

    Apr 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →

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Ranked by how close each launch is in meaning, then by votes. Prices were read from each product’s own site when checked and can change. Refine with your own description →