A set top box or like device utilizing virtualization techniques to isolate secure device resources from an untrusted software framework incorporated in the device. In one implementation, a first virtual machine container is provided for secure execution of a traditional set top box application, while a second virtual machine container is utilized to host a software framework or untrusted portions of a software framework. A secure access client/server interface is provided to support interactions between the first and second virtual machine containers. The software framework may comprise, for example, an Android framework supported by an underlying Linux operating system environment and isolated in a Linux resource container. Virtual container constructs in various embodiments may employ varying levels of hardware sandboxing, including use of dedicated processing resources in multi-processor environments. In further embodiments, the software framework may be partitioned into trusted and untrusted portions that are executed in separate virtual containers.