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IoT technology has numerous applications, ranging from gathering biometric data via wearable devices to controlling connected equipment via communication networks and cloud platforms.
Pictured is a low powered IoT temperature and humidity sensor.
The global Internet of Things (IoT) market was valued at USD 300.30 billion in 2021 and is projected to grow to 650.5 billion by 2026. An increase in smart city initiatives world wide, an increase in connected devices to drive the growth of IoT, and emerging 5G and 6G technologies to help IoT adoption globally would provide vast opportunities for IoT vendors.
However, as the number of connected smart devices grows, so does the need for data protection and privacy. IoT devices are particularly vulnerable to network attacks such as data thefts, phishing attacks, spoofing and denial of service attacks (DDoS attacks). These can lead to serious data breaches that can take businesses and governments a lot of money and effort to recover from.
The majority of IoT devices are resource constrained, being limited in CPU, memory, and power resources, especially because a lot of them are powered by batteries. They do not have the same security mechanisms built into their operating systems as more advanced machines and computers.
Many of these resource limited IoT devices only support limited encryption of payloads. This can be a concern if payload information is confidential or commercially sensitive. Without the ability to support more sophisticated security mechanisms payloads will remain at risk.
To prevent third party access to data while it is in transit between the device and the client, End-to-End Encryption (E2EE) provides that much needed additional layer of security.
The E2EE solution adds an overlay of encryption to existing payloads. The solution is under the management and control of the client that owns IoT devices and is independent of any service providers.
Our partner, AllThingsEncrypted, offers a technology agnostic software-oriented E2EE solution for resource limited IoT devices that may have limited CPU and/or battery power. AllThingsEncrypted supports clients that need end-to-end encryption under their own control with a server that can be placed into their environments, while smaller clients can take advantage of a secured Decryption/Encryption as a Service solution.
We provide end-to-end protection between your devices and your environment, no matter where they may be. Our approach applies to any IoT network and almost any device and data. We can operate on any network technology from Sigfox to 5G, although our solution excels for technologies that involve limited resource devices and small bandwidth networks.
Our lightweight E2EE software reduces flash memory use by factors of 10 and computing energy cost by 25% compare to other cryptographic tools used in modern IoT devices. Additionally, our solution does not increase the payload length, there is no additional transmission cost compared to other solutions.
Our partner, OmniTabz, provides an IoT via Satellite service called OrbiSync. OrbiSync combines the strengths of Low Power Wide Area Network technology with satellite backhaul transmission, to provide "IoT Anywhere". OrbiSync has been deployed to places like Borneo, operating successfully in even the most rugged conditions.
One of the benefits of the OrbiSync service is its efficient use of satellite bandwidth used in the backhaul. Device payloads are pared to the smallest size possible, while ensuring that all information is transmitted. Smaller payloads translate into less power needed to transmit information across the satellite path - crucial when a client is dependent on solar power to operate its OrbiSync terminal.
One of OmniTabz' clients required additional encryption to be applied to the payload while transiting the satellite path. Using Beowulf, OmniTabz was able to meet this requirement, offer full satellite payload encryption in both the uplink from the OrbiSync terminal to the client and in the downlink path from the client to the OrbiSync terminal. The solution was successful in providing the additional protections that the client required.
Beowulf’s highly efficient encoding mechanism meant that satellite payloads were not increased, while still providing the encryption capability required by the client.
The Beowulf cipher has been successfully adopted on a IoT Device, a temperature and humidity sensor by IQ Nexus, an IoT solutions provider in New Zealand.
With the increases of attacks on smart devices, the use of a light weight cipher is needed more than ever.
Download our document to find out more.
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