In brief: The Open Interconnect Consortium (OIC) introduced a new, open source framework to connect billions of smart devices from a wide variety of vendors. But has the IoT standards horse already left the barn?
identity management
Intel’s New IoT Platform Emphasizes Security
Intel unveiled a new Internet of Things platform this week dubbed (surprisingly enough) the “Intel IoT Platform.” The goal is to provide a unified platform for connecting diverse and distributed connected things. Given Intel’s big investment in security with the purchase of McAfee, its no surprise that security is a big part of the “value add” for the IoT platform. Intel says that its IoT platform promotes interoperability of network, operational technology and information technologies. The IoT Platform envisions Intel Quark™ to Intel Xeon, and Intel-based devices, gateways, and datacenter solutions with hardware-based root of trust. With hardware enabled identity and secure boot features, Intel believes that you can eliminate a wide range of malicious attacks and compromises. Intel’s IoT Gateway devices are based on its 2009 acquisition of WindRiver. They also wrap security intelligence from Intel’s acquisition of McAfee. Specifically, Intel has embedded anomaly and intrusion detection and prevention capabilities in […]
Security Needs Context in IoT| SC Magazine
SC Magazine has a worthy editorial on IoT and security by John Barco, VP of product management at the firm ForgeRock on how Internet of Things (IoT) technologies requires both security and a better understanding of what Barco calls “context.” “It’s not just about protecting IoT devices but the entire ecosystem, from the customer to the partner, the web page, mobile device, mobile app, the cloud and everything else in between,” he writes. Organizations that do not grasp the complex interactions between static devices, mobile devices and (of course) the cloud risk leaving sensitive, regulated data or intellectual property at the mercy of malicious actors. Barco’s recommendations? More and better user authentication to support IoT use cases outside the firewall, and future-proofing your IoT deployment by eschewing proprietary platforms and technologies. To quote Barco: “open source gives IT a platform it can build on and customize, while open standards offer the flexibility to adapt to future […]
Europol Warns of Internet of Things Risk
In a newly released report, Europol’s European Cybercrime Center (EC3) warns that the growth of the Internet of Things (IoT) threatens to strengthen the hand of organized cyber criminal groups and make life much more difficult for police and governments that wish to pursue them. EC3’s latest Internet Organized Crime Threat Assessment (iOCTA) says the “Internet of Everything” will greatly complicate the work of law enforcement creating “new opportunities for everything from cyber criminals to state actors to child abusers. The growing numbers of connected devices will greatly expand the “attack surface” available for cyber criminal activity, the EC3 warns. Cyber criminals may co-opt connected devices for use in common criminal activity (like denial of service attacks and spam campaigns). However, advancements like connected (“smart”) vehicles and infrastructure create openings for large scale and disruptive attacks. The report, which was published late last months, is a high level position paper and pulls data mostly […]
Online Authentication Group FIDO Alliance Grabs A Big Bone: Alibaba
The FIDO Alliance, an up-and-coming industry consortium aimed at simplifying online identity and doing away with passwords added IPO darling Alibaba to its Board of Directors, according to a statement on Tuesday. The FIDO (or “Fast IDentity Online”) Alliance announced that Alibaba Group’s payments business, Alipay will be among the first to deploy FIDO technology for secure payments authentication. On September 17, the company announced that it will use Nok Nok Labs’ FIDO-compliant NNL™ S3 Authentication Suite to enable secure online payments via the Fingerprint Sensor (FPS) technology on the Samsung Galaxy S5. Alipay customers will be able to make payments and transfers using Alipay’s mobile application, Alipay Wallet by applying their fingerprint to the Galxy’s fingerprint sensor. “We look forward to participating on the FIDO Alliance board, and assuring that commerce and authentication are uniquely cooperative and seamlessly compatible,” said Ni Liang, Alibaba group, senior director, department of security, in a statement. Mobile payments […]
