US Patent 7096394 Method for protecting software programs from inadvertent execution

A method of safeguarding program parts which are critical to safety against inadvertent execution is described. In this method, at least one program part is executed in a predetermined chronological sequence. At a certain time in the execution, a pattern is generated. At least at one later time, a check is then performed to determine whether the pattern is present. If the pattern is not present, the execution of the respective program part is terminated. A memory device for executing such a method is also described.