Rambus

At Rambus, we create cutting-edge semiconductor and IP products, providing industry-leading chips and silicon IP to make data faster and safer.

Home > You searched for IoT > Page 18

Search Results for: IoT

CIOs mull IoT security concerns

Dinyar Dastoor, VP and GM at Wind River, recently penned an article for CIOs in Embedded Computing Design that explores the security risks associated with the management and deployment of IoT devices.

“For many [CIOs], this will be the first time they’ll have to actively manage such embedded devices across their networks. Indeed, for some it will be the first time the walls of their datacenter have extended beyond the web portals used for customer services and other customer-facing engagement,” Dastoor explained.

CIOs mull IoT security concerns

Dinyar Dastoor, VP and GM at Wind River, recently penned an article for CIOs in Embedded Computing Design that explores the security risks associated with the management and deployment of IoT devices.

“For many [CIOs], this will be the first time they’ll have to actively manage such embedded devices across their networks. Indeed, for some it will be the first time the walls of their datacenter have extended beyond the web portals used for customer services and other customer-facing engagement,” Dastoor explained.

unlock

“The army of IoT devices needs a strict regime of security applied to them. Protecting from attempts to attack the current firmware, eavesdrop on the data being sent, or creating a man-in-the-middle attack to change data being sent are all potential threats.”

To simplify life for their customers, says Dastoor, IoT device manufacturers will deploy an over-the-air approach to updating firmware and configuration data – in an attempt to keep truck-rolls to an absolute minimum. However, the Wind River VP warns this approach could “open up” other attack routes unless carefully reviewed.

Dastoor also points out that protecting access to IoT data is an equally complex task, as are the issues of information ownership and infrastructure.

“The need to establish domains of trust and how to actively control them are paramount,” he emphasized.

According to Dastoor, the Internet of Things is becoming an agent of change – making “transformative affects” throughout the enterprise.

“Like all change, it needs to be carefully planned and reviewed for the anticipated benefits to be realized,” he added.

Perhaps not surprisingly, hacker turned security consultant Kevin Mitnick recently told an IoT security symposium that he doesn’t know of “any system” considered impenetrable.

“In our experience, when we are hired by clients to attack their systems, our success rate is 100%,” he confirmed.

More specifically, says Mitnick, the IoT is plagued by many of the same issues corporate computer networks face, including lack of encryption, authentication weaknesses and password resets.

“Those same vulnerabilities exist in the IoT,” he added. “If I want to get information from a device, all I have to do is go out and buy one and then extract the firmware.”

Kendra De Berti, a marketing manager at Rambus, recommends manufacturers of IoT devices and platforms adopt a hardware-based security strategy – beginning at the SoC level itself.

“A hardware-centric approach will help ensure SoCs powering the IoT remain secure during the manufacturing process. In addition, embedding the appropriate security IP core into an IoT device or platform will go a long way in helping companies design systems that remain secure throughout their respective lifecycles,” she concluded.

Smart sensors for the IoT

Tom Kevan of Desktop Engineering recently observed that the Internet of Things (IoT) is pushing measurement analytics to the edge of the network – essentially redefining the sensor’s place in the electromechanical ecosystem.

“No longer a discrete component working in isolation, the sensor interacts with computing and communications components to provide intelligence via two-way communications,” he explained. “[Companies] must adopt a systems engineering perspective, looking beyond individual components and viewing the sensor as part of a larger whole. Using this perspective, engineers must determine how the sensor fits and interacts with the other components in the node.”

Smart sensors for the IoT

Tom Kevan of Desktop Engineering recently observed that the Internet of Things (IoT) is pushing measurement analytics to the edge of the network – essentially redefining the sensor’s place in the electromechanical ecosystem.

Lensless-imaging-and-sensing-for-brain-interfaces

“No longer a discrete component working in isolation, the sensor interacts with computing and communications components to provide intelligence via two-way communications,” he explained. “[Companies] must adopt a systems engineering perspective, looking beyond individual components and viewing the sensor as part of a larger whole. Using this perspective, engineers must determine how the sensor fits and interacts with the other components in the node.”

In addition, says Kevan, design engineers must also fit more and more functionality and components into smaller spaces. Perhaps not surprisingly, these design demands place a significant premium on miniaturization and packaging technologies.

“The power consumption design criterion for IoT sensor nodes has one rule: Do more with less,” he continued. “This means that the node must be able to sense a physical property, perform analytics and transmit data to the Internet on a significantly reduced power budget, regardless of the power source technology.”

Paul Karazuba, a director of product marketing at Rambus, expressed similar sentiments.

“As our cars, houses and workplaces become increasingly connected within the context of the IoT, sensing needs will only continue to grow,” Karazuba told Rambus Press during a post-CES interview in Sunnyvale. “Indeed, sensors were one of the major themes of the show in Las Vegas – highlighting the continued march of always-on, always-connected sensing.”

Like Kevan, Karazuba says the next generation of smart sensors must be capable of doing more with less.

“Simple-function, sensor-laden endpoints can be expected to become ubiquitous as new layers of the IoT infrastructure go online,” he explained. “These environmentally-aware ‘lite’ endpoints will capture, analyze and transfer data to various devices and the Cloud, but must do so with the right balance of power, performance, price and size.”

According to Karazuba, one possible way of achieving this balance is to replace traditional lensed cameras with diffractive optics-based sensing.

“Rambus scientists pioneered Lensless Smart Sensor (LSS) technology for a new age of ubiquitous connectivity,” said Karazuba. “LSS can reduce the cost and size of image-based sensing as compared to traditional cameras and other commonly-used sensing technologies.”

As Karazuba notes, images captured by Lensless Smart Sensors are unrecognizable to the human eye, although they do contain all scene data (and, of course, all data required for sensing applications).

“LSS technology offers an attractive mix of size, field of view, price and privacy – whether deployed as an occupant detection and counting sensor for smart home and commercial applications, or as an eye tracker in smart glass/augmented reality (AR)/virtual reality (VR) systems,” he added. “The value proposition versus alternative solutions continues to be validated through in-depth technical exploration with potential customers in these and other markets. We are looking forward to enhancing LSS technology as we productize it in 2016.”

A market outlook for the IoT

Rambus CMO Jerome Nadel recently headlined a CES 2016 AppNation panel exploring the market potential of the Internet of Things (IoT). The panel was moderated by Matthew Quint of the Columbia Business School, and also included Brian Dunphy of Gimbal and Andres Wolberg-Stok of Citi.

Rambus logo