Secure Iot by Design Cybersecurity Capabilities to Look for When Choosing an Iot Platform
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Secure IoT by design Cybersecurity capabilities to look for when choosing an IoT platform October 2018 Secure IoT by design | Introduction Introduction The Internet of Things (IoT) is a set of business and technology innovations that offers many compelling benefits. However, it also presents significant cybersecurity risks and a greatly expanded attack surface. Mitigating these risks can help organizations realize the potential and benefits of the technology. IoT platforms are emerging that make IoT development and deployment much easier. But just as important is their ability to greatly enhance IoT cybersecurity. This report examines the cyber risks associated with IoT, and highlights the cybersecurity capabilities IoT platforms must have in order to address those cyber risks effectively. 2 Secure IoT by design | The risks of IoT The risks of IoT With IoT, devices are both smart and Bad actors are constantly looking for any havoc in the physical world—whether it’s connected—gathering and sharing data little weakness, and IoT greatly expands the taking control of your vehicle, or causing a without the need for human intervention. universe of potential weaknesses—whether nuclear power plant to melt down. As the This enables information to be collected in a particular device, device-to-device World Economic Forum noted, “hacking the and shared on a massive scale with communications, or the broader Internet. location data on a car is merely an invasion unprecedented levels of speed, Even a single breach point may be enough to of privacy, whereas hacking the control efficiency, and detail. compromise the entire IoT network. system of a car would be a threat to a life.” 1 Another risk with IoT is that it greatly For IoT to reach its full potential, these The most obvious risk of expands the amount of data that can be and other cybersecurity risks need to be compromised. IoT data has the potential to identified and addressed. connecting smart devices be far more detailed and sensitive, since it at scale is that it creates can be collected in real time directly at the source. an expanded attack surface with countless Last, but certainly not least, IoT provides a bridge between digital and physical, making points of vulnerability. it possible for digital hackers to wreak 1 World Economic Forum, “Technological Risks: Back to the Future,” http://reports.weforum.org/global-risks-2015/part-1-global-risks-2015/technological-risks-back-to-the-future/#view/fn-23. 3 Secure IoT by design | IoT platforms can help IoT platforms can help Until recently, companies deploying IoT Key components of an IoT platform can IoT platform components comprise the had no choice but to build comprehensive include everything from hardware devices backbone of a network of hardware, solutions from the ground up. Now, deployed in the field, to large mission-critical software, data, and application components however, IoT platforms are emerging that applications used by executive management that together provide the means to take make IoT development and deployment to drive the business. The integration of simple bits of data and transform them into much faster and easier. these relatively simple components into a powerful corporate tools. Figure 1 illustrates comprehensive network of mission-critical the core components in a Like a computer operating system, an IoT infrastructure is an important and complex typical IoT platform. platform provides a standard foundation for undertaking that can drive business value applications to build on, so they don’t have and competitive advantage for organizations to be programmed to do everything from that are able to do it effectively. scratch. For example, a computer operating system handles all the intricate details of reading and writing data to a storage device, using standard data formats. This saves application developers a lot of time and effort—but just as important, it reduces the chaos and complexity that often results from every application doing the task its own way. 4 Secure IoT by design | IoT platforms can help Physical layer. The physical layer of the IoT platform contains the hardware and physical components needed IoT Security to begin to capture and transmit sensory information. • Encryption • Regulatory compliance Gateway. The gateway layer controls the transmission • Device safety • Privacy and data protection and communication aspects of the IoT platform and provides a standard set of communication protocols to take sensory information from a device and transmit the Business application data throughout the platform. Vertical solutions APM IoT applications. The IoT application tier contains the software components and device/event management Analytics Visualization software used to rationalize and make decisions about where to store data based on the parameters outlined in Real-time analytics Charts and graphs the application set. Data preparation & delivery. In the data preparation and Business / artificial intelligence delivery layer, metadata analysis is performed and rules around data sensitivity and access can be applied. Management Cognitive Machine Checking for completeness and accuracy typically occurs reporting computing learning within this layer (coupled with data security to protect HTTP critical information and assets). Data storage and access Data storage & access. The data storage and access layer Data Data Process- Data is where sensory data meets data classification rules to visualization lake specific data exploration provide a subset of data capable of powering business analytics and visualization tools. In this layer, it is common HTTP to combine other data sets from ERP applications and/or data warehousing solutions to provide additional insight Data preparation and delivery and context to the sensory information. Metadata Audit and Data security Signal management control and privacy processing Business/artificial intelligence. This is the point where HTTP sensory information starts to be used to drive business decisions. Applying advanced analytics, cognitive technologies, and artificial intelligence to information IoT applications gathered at the sensor level allows businesses to move IoT communication Device MQTT from reporting and visualization to making real-time software management decisions automatically. Analytics & visualization. Visualization takes analytics to the next level, compiling vast data sets into data models Gateway API and interfaces that provide deep and compelling insights IoT communication Networking M2M into the state of the business based on the information software protocols fed from IoT devices. Business application. In addition to analytics and data Physical layer visualization, sensory information can be integrated into H2M large-scale, comprehensive applications that are critical “Things” Sensors to business processes. This integration enables vertical integration of the IoT solution into business platforms that would otherwise be operated manually or without Figure 1: Key IoT platform and integration points real-time data feeds. 5 Secure IoT by design | Secure by design Secure by design “Secure by design” is the inclusion of Developing IoT solutions around a And because platforms are used by more security design principles, technology, and standard platform allows organizations to than one company, they benefit from governance at each and every stage of the develop security solutions for IOT devices “real-world” testing that helps expose IoT journey. When an organization looks at in a consistent manner. In contrast, when hidden or otherwise unknown creating, deploying, and leveraging organizations develop IoT platforms from vulnerabilities. connected technology to drive its scratch it can unknowingly increase the business, security must be integrated into potential for cyber-related risks. IoT That being said, platforms also have the every component, tier, and application to platforms typically include standard tools potential to increase cyber risk because preserve the integrity of the IoT solution and methods that can promote good they provide a bigger and potentially more and minimize the risk of cyber threats. design habits and help developers build lucrative target for attack. Hackers that strong security into their solutions from find a vulnerability in a platform typically IoT technology requires a broad set of the outset. don’t just gain access to one system, but to capabilities to help organizations achieve many or all systems that use the platform. high levels of cybersecurity. IoT platforms In addition, IoT platforms are commonly have numerous built-in security features, designed and tested holistically to validate such as user access control, secure that there is a high level of security network protocols, and data encryption deployed at every level, not only within capabilities, that can all be leveraged. But individual components but for all that’s just the beginning. components working together as a whole. 6 Secure IoT by design | Secure. Vigilant. Resilient. Secure. Vigilant. Resilient. As organizations expand their connected • Vigilant. Your early warning system. Like having response plans to quickly recover landscape and increase the footprint of their security cameras and a guard at the front from a cyber event—is increasingly critical device network, the threat of cyber-attacks desk, capabilities in this area help sense, to mitigating risks and achieving the naturally increases. To protect themselves, detect, and predict cyber