Here is a list f IoT predictions for year 2018. With the number of connected devices set to top 11 billion – and that’s not including computers and phones – in 2018, Internet of Things will clearly continue to be a hot topic. Here is my prediction list:
1. Artifical Intelligence – it will be talked a lot
2. Blockchain – blockchain will be hyped to be a solution for many IoT problems, and it will turn out that it is not the best solution for most of problems it is hyped for – and maybe it will find few sensible uses for it in IoT. Blockchain can add immutability and integrity to some IoT transactions.
3. 4G mobile for IoT: NB-IoT and LTE-M are ready to be tested or used in many markets
4. 5G will be hyped a lot for IoT applications but it is nowhere near for any real big IoT use cases
6. Security issues will be talked a lot. IoT security is far from solved issue.
7. Privacy issues of IoT will be talked a lot when our homes and pockets are starting to be filled with ever listening digital assistants.
8. Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) will be massive
9. More CPU power will be added or used in the edge. Pushing processing power to the “edge” brings a number of benefits and opportunities.
10. Hardware based security: Hardware based security on microprocessors will be talked a lot after “Meltdown” and “Spectre” disaster
Links to more predictions:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/danielnewman/2017/12/19/the-top-8-iot-trends-for-2018/#17a9943267f7
https://www.ibm.com/blogs/internet-of-things/top-5-iot-trends-in-2018/
https://www.inc.com/james-paine/3-internet-of-things-trends-to-watch-in-2018.html
https://www.i-scoop.eu/iot-2018-1/
https://dzone.com/articles/iot-trends-for-2018
1,393 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
Smart home on the rise
https://www.broadbandtechreport.com/articles/2018/05/smart-home-on-the-rise.html?cmpid=enl_btr_weekly_network_technology_2018-05-22&pwhid=6b9badc08db25d04d04ee00b499089ffc280910702f8ef99951bdbdad3175f54dcae8b7ad9fa2c1f5697ffa19d05535df56b8dc1e6f75b7b6f6f8c7461ce0b24
The number of U.S. homes with smart devices in more than one category is on the rise. New Parks Associates research indicates that 17% of households own an Internet-connected entertainment device and a smart home device. Thirteen percent of consumers own both a connected health device and a smart home device.
“Adoption of multiple connected devices alters consumer behavior as connectivity opens opportunities for adjacent use cases, new means of control, and extension of preferred interfaces,” said Brad Russell, director, Connected Home Research, Parks Associates.
The interfaces on smart devices have evolved from the controls being on the device to touch screens, to apps, and now voice.
“Voice is really growing rapidly. Consumer interest is strong, ” Russell said. “We have done research asking (consumers) of different ways of interfacing, which do you prefer for different types of products. It varies by device. Lighting is the No. 1 use case for voice.”
“Voice has driven consumer interest in many new smart home products, and as burgeoning connected devices populate the home, the next stages of development involve integration of multiple types of input, including data from voice, displays, cameras and sensors,” Russell said.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Smart home: Opportunities and challenges
https://www.broadbandtechreport.com/articles/2018/05/smart-home-opportunities-and-challenges.html?cmpid=enl_btr_weekly_network_technology_2018-05-22&pwhid=6b9badc08db25d04d04ee00b499089ffc280910702f8ef99951bdbdad3175f54dcae8b7ad9fa2c1f5697ffa19d05535df56b8dc1e6f75b7b6f6f8c7461ce0b24
According to Parks Associates, more than 50% of U.S. broadband households own a smart TV and more than 40% own a streaming media player, creating both opportunities and challenges in the smart home and “connected everything” world.
“The rise of voice control enables consumers to control their cameras and sensors and their streaming service through the same interface,” said Jennifer Kent, director of Research Quality & Product Development at Parks Associates. “This desire for simplicity drives their choice of connected platforms.”
“Consumers have begun to embrace a variety of devices, including smart speakers, smart TVs with voice control, and everything from smart locks to connected thermostats, and even smart refrigerators,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Five Reasons for the Rise of the Secure Internet Gateway
https://assets.toolbox.com/research/five-reasons-for-the-rise-of-the-secure-internet-gateway-80153?mid=6158450&lgid=3441165&mailing_id=3843071&lpid=699&tfso=149898&success=true&templateid=26
Tomi Engdahl says:
Who’s in the Market for Your IoT Data?
https://it.toolbox.com/articles/whos-in-the-market-for-your-iot-data?mid=6158450&lgid=3441165&mailing_id=3843071&lpid=699&tfso=149898
The Internet of Things, which may deliver the type of “auto-magical” level of control over home and business environments promised by science fiction authors for decades, is held together through wireless connections. It is a source of data roughly proportional in volume to the area it serves and its importance to the human operators in and around it.
It follows that IoT data is a marketable commodity. People who use connected devices to run their business need to know who’s interested in their IoT datasets, and whether this interest may be detrimental to their interests.
The Spy Cleaning Your Living Room
Those who own or plan to own a Roomba, a smart floor-cleaner with connectivity to other devices that improves with each iteration, may have been alarmed to learn that their robot vacuum can generate data-based maps of their living spaces, and that Roomba’s manufacturer, iRobot, plans to sell that data to big tech companies.
Tomi Engdahl says:
You know that silly fear about Alexa recording everything and leaking it online? It just happened
US pair’s private chat sent to coworker by AI bug
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/05/24/alexa_recording_couple/
It’s time to break out your “Alexa, I Told You So” banners – because a Portland, Oregon, couple received a phone call from one of the husband’s employees earlier this month, telling them she had just received a recording of them talking privately in their home.
“Unplug your Alexa devices right now,” the staffer told the couple, who did not wish to be fully identified, “you’re being hacked.”
At first the couple thought it might be a hoax call. However, the employee – over a hundred miles away in Seattle – confirmed the leak by revealing the pair had just been talking about their hardwood floors.
Tomi Engdahl says:
DNA and Solita start IoT co-operation in Finland
https://www.tivi.fi/Kaikki_uutiset/suomalaiset-kytkevat-miljoonia-laitteita-verkkoon-ict-talot-menivat-kimppaan-6725919
Tomi Engdahl says:
How IIoT impacts tool and sensor functionality
On the front lines of the cloud’s maintenance disruption.
https://www.controleng.com/single-article/how-iiot-impacts-tool-and-sensor-functionality/281c8f0e4be2658f79509f4b9e37c346.html?OCVALIDATE=
Most often, for change to occur, disruption precedes it. This is certainly true of the Industrial Internet of Things’ (IIoT) impact on the industrial world.
Until recently, this ongoing industrial revolution primarily impacted operations personnel. However, as cloud-based technologies become more cost-effective, maintenance teams are turning to the cloud to help them work smarter, including when it comes to the implementation of predictive strategies.
The days of taking measurements with a handheld meter, recording the data on a clipboard, and, at the end of the day, entering the results into a database are almost over.
Fluke Corp. is known for accurate, durable handheld devices. For the foreseeable future, maintenance teams will need these tools to perform route-based testing and root-cause analysis on assets. However, with IIoT advances, these virtually indispensable tools, as well as other emergent technologies, will be used in smarter ways.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Four ways spreadsheets limit data analytics
Tools needed for data cleansing, visualization, contextualization, and modeling.
https://www.controleng.com/single-article/four-ways-spreadsheets-limit-data-analytics/ae0ac04c2ae9387021990240d683ee5e.html
Process industry firms have collected manufacturing data for decades. With each step-change advance in hardware and software, organizations generate and collect more data, characterizing process conditions, supply-chain metrics, and other production aspects.
Nevertheless, companies struggle to convert collected data volumes into useful information and insights. They do so to improve reliability, safety, and profitability of process units, plants, and businesses. But as data volumes grow, the challenges intensify.
An industrial revolution, driven by the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), is unfolding based on advanced computerization, sensor proliferation, and wireless technologies-dramatically expanding data types and volumes to store and analyze, and requiring a better analytics approach.
Historically, process manufacturers use spreadsheets to organize data collected in tabular form. Originally meant for accounting and finance, spreadsheets were never a great match for large volumes of time-series data. They did, however, allow software-enabled formula building, as well as calculations across multiple sheets.
Therefore, engineers adopted spreadsheets for data analytics projects, resulting in labor- and time-intensive processes. In addition, using spreadsheets, results sharing and collaboration with others was difficult. As companies amassed more data, they struggled to find efficient ways to share data-driven insights within the organization.
Advanced analytics software is the means to overcome these challenges and barriers. To better understand these advances, let’s look at four spreadsheet limitations, as well as how each is addressed by analytics solutions.
Tomi Engdahl says:
http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/8016-iot-pajassa-pyorii-pian-sata-yritysta
Tomi Engdahl says:
http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/8014-arrow-n-iot-tapahtuma-kasvoi-suurimmaksi
https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2018/05/18/iot-tapahtumaan-liki-tuhat-osallistujaa/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Introducing the Internet of Arduino Challenge, Powered by Arrow and Indiegogo
https://www.arrow.com/en/research-and-events/articles/introducing-the-indiegogo-arduino-challenge
Enter the Internet of Arduino Challenge and you could win $50,000 in Arrow funding for your Arduino-based IoT design!
For example, Tersa Steam is a wall mounted, 10-minute clothing care system and it’s as easy as your single cup coffee maker. They started with an Arduino because it was the perfect platform for prototyping. More efficient, user friendly. Just like their clothing care product.
The Arrow Certification Program helped Tersa refine the design for their clothing care solution to take it to production. Indiegogo also helped Tersa raise more than 200% of their crowdfunding goal.
http://connected.arrow.com/indiegogo-arduino-challenge
Tomi Engdahl says:
Open Source IoT Is Growing in Importance
http://www.ioti.com/strategy/open-source-iot-growing-importance
Partnerships have long been a hallmark for the Internet of Things in enterprise, but, increasingly, an Open Source IoT ethos is taking root.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Canalys:
Research: global smart speaker shipments grew to 9M units in Q1 2018, up 210% YoY; Google sold 3.2M Home and Mini devices, overtaking 2.5M Amazon Echos shipped
Google beats Amazon to first place in smart speaker market
https://www.canalys.com/newsroom/google-beats-amazon-to-first-place-in-smart-speaker-market
Smart speakers continue to be the world’s fastest-growing consumer technology segment, with year-on-year growth in Q1 2018 of 210% as shipments reached 9 million units. Google took the top spot, beating Amazon for the first time, shipping 3.2 million of its Google Home and Home Mini devices, against the 2.5 million Echo devices shipped by Amazon. The US market share fell below 50% for the first time, partly due to Google and Amazon’s focus on expanding beyond their home markets, but also because of the increased traction that the technology is seeing with new vendors in markets such as China and South Korea.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Week in Review: IoT
Startup funding; Siemens buys Enlighted; VPNFilter malware.
https://semiengineering.com/the-week-in-review-iot-99/
Orbbec of Shenzhen, China, a developer of motion sensing technology, raised more than $200 million in Series D funding led by Ant Financial.
The Building Technologies Division of Siemens agreed to acquire Enlighted, a provider of IoT systems for buildings; financial terms weren’t revealed.
Marvell Technology Group reports that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States completed its review of Marvell’s proposed acquisition of Cavium, without finding any unresolved national security concerns. The deal still awaits other regulatory clearances
The Cisco Talos group reports that malware it calls “VPNFilter” has infected at least 500,000 networking devices in some 54 countries, taking in small office/home office routers (not those made by Cisco) and network-attached storage devices. The malware is apparently targeting supervisory control and data acquisition systems using Modbus protocols.
Sprint is working with myDevices and The Goldie Group to provide IoT products and services through the Sprint IoT Factory, which the wireless carrier says can deliver solutions in two days.
Lattice Semiconductor debuted Lattice sensAI, a technology stack meant to accelerate integration of machine learning inferences into IoT applications.
ADLINK Technology brought out DXS, its IoT digital-experiments-as-a-service offering. DXS is said to provide client asset connection, data management consolidation, endpoint management, enterprise sharing, and pre-validated hardware, along with field and professional services.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Z-Shave Attack Could Impact Over 100 Million IoT Devices
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/z-shave-attack-could-impact-over-100-million-iot-devices/
The Z-Wave wireless communications protocol used for some IoT/smart devices is vulnerable to a downgrade attack that can allow a malicious party to intercept and tamper with traffic between smart devices.
The attack —codenamed Z-Shave— relies on tricking two smart devices that are pairing into thinking one of them does not support the newer S-Wave S2 security features, forcing both to use the older S0 security standard.
The problem, as security researchers from Pen Test Partners have explained this week, is that all S0 traffic is secured by default with an encryption key of “0000000000000000.”
An attacker that can trick a smart device into pairing with another device, a PC, or a smartphone app via the older S0 standard, can later decrypt all traffic exchanged between the two because the decryption key is widely known.
The Pen Test crew say they identified three methods that can be used to trick two devices into pairing via the old S0 instead of S2, even if both support the newer security standard.
Z-Shave attack is pretty dangerous
The Z-Shave attack is dangerous because devices paired via an older version of Z-Wave can become a point of entry for an attacker into a larger network, or can lead to the theft of personal property.
Z-Wave maker plays down attack’s importance
But in a blog post published on the same day Pen Test researchers published their work, Silicon Labs, the company behind the Z-Wave protocol downplayed the issue. The main criticism of the Z-Shave attack was that an attacker had a very very short time window to execute his attack.
“You would need advanced equipment in proximity to the home during the short installation process,” a Silicon Labs spokesperson said.
“When installing a new device there is a very small window of time (milliseconds) to force the S2 to S0 reversion,” he added. “The homeowner or professional installer will always be present during installation and is the only one who can initiate the inclusion process.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
This is exactly why some people don’t want Alexa
This family’s Echo sent a private conversation to a random contact
https://techcrunch.com/2018/05/24/family-claims-their-echo-sent-a-private-conversation-to-a-random-contact/?sr_share=facebook&utm_source=tcfbpage
Amazon, when she eventually got hold of the company, had an engineer check the logs, and he apparently discovered what they said was true. In a statement, Amazon said, “We investigated what happened and determined this was an extremely rare occurrence. We are taking steps to avoid this from happening in the future.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Why IIoT Security Is So Difficult
https://semiengineering.com/why-iiot-security-is-so-difficult/
A fragmented market and ecosystem mean it will take at least five years to get security to a meaningful level.
Despite the high risk of a market filled with billions of at least partially unprotected devices, it is likely to take five years or more to reach a “meaningful” level of security in the Industrial IoT.
The market, which potentially includes every connected device with an integrated circuit, is fragmented into vertical industries, specialty chips, and filled with competing OEMs, carriers, integrators, networking providers. There are so many pieces, in fact, that it is difficult to dovetail all of them into a workable number of best practices and standards specifications, according to Richard Soley, executive director of the Industrial Internet Consortium and chairman and CEO of the Object Management Group.
One of the biggest hurdles is unifying all the various factions involved in the Industrial IoT behind a relatively small, well-defined set of definitions of what security actually is and how to get chipmakers to build it into their products consistently.
“A lot of it’s already pretty standard, so that shouldn’t be too bad”
The market for microcontrollers is very fragmented, which is part of the reason Arm introduced its Platform Security Architecture (PSA) program last October. The company provides open-source software and higher-level APIs to make it easier for developers to write trusted code, according to Neil Parris, director of products for Arm’s IoT Device IP business unit.
“We’re writing documentation with suggested recipes of what needs to go into a PSA chip for various security levels,”
“The hardware is different for every vendor,”
Intel’s Enhanced Privacy ID and Arm’s PSA are ways to build basic security into silicon before the chips or IP are incorporated into larger chipsets. Microsoft’s Azure Sphere announcement in February addressed similar issues, but on such a narrow, platform-dependent basis.
“The cheapest thing would be to integrate security inside the chip – design in a root of trust, key material, crypto accelerator and key essential security services, spending on what package it’s a part of, and you have something to provide a root of trust that takes up a tiny fraction of a square millimeter,”
Bigger problems
There are more hurdles to cross than simply getting chipmakers to make IoT devices boot securely, however.
The most obvious problem from a customer perspective is the inability of most organizations to see or identify an average of 40% of the devices on their networks, or know what they’re doing from moment to moment, according to Lumeta, a security monitoring firm whose analysis of the IoT infrastructure of 200 organizations was an important part of Cisco’s 2018 Annual CyberSecurity Report, released in February.
Once a device is connected to the Internet, however, the idea that a device can remain protected goes out the window and the technical staff becomes responsible for investigating potential security risks in each piece of software and at each layer of the communications stack
CyberX also found that:
• 60% of industrial organizations allow passwords to cross OT networks unencrypted;
• 50% run no antivirus software;
• 82% use remote-management protocols that are vulnerable to digital reconnaissance;
• And three out of four reported using at least one controller running a version of Windows for which Microsoft no longer provides patches.
Only 8.5% of industrial organizations responding to a survey said they were “very ready” to address cybersecurity
“In a typical IT environment you can shut things down or block ports to respond to something you don’t like,” Hanna said. “In an OT environment, if you block a port you may not be able to see the pressure level inside a vessel. You often can’t do a port scan of OT systems. Many of them will crash if you scan them for vulnerabilities. And in OT, having a backup to take over if the primary fails doesn’t make sense. Attackers are now going after the safety systems, as well as destabilizing the main system. So you start out thinking you have suspenders and a belt, and they’ve cut them both so you’re not protected at all.”
“Security has become a regular point of discussion with customers at conferences,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Internet of Smells: Giving a Machine the Job of Sniffing Out Spoiled Food
https://hackaday.com/2018/05/31/internet-of-smells-giving-a-machine-the-job-of-sniffing-out-spoiled-food/
What I found was there was a pre-existing body of research in India on using volatile organic compound (VOC) sensors to identify spoiled milk (PDF). More generally, these sensors are used in commercial devices to detect spoilage and adulteration in a wide variety of food products (PDF). These devices are sometimes called an ‘electric nose’.
Characterisation of
Gas Sensor Array for Milk Spoilage and
Diseases Detection
http://academicscience.co.in/admin/resources/project/paper/f201802191519016505.pdf
Tomi Engdahl says:
INDUSTRY Copycats pose a serious security threat to the IoT
https://iot.eetimes.com/copycats-pose-a-serious-security-threat-to-the-iot/
Companies are bracing for the EU GDPR, which will be enforceable starting May 25. The big issue is the billions of IoT devices collecting data. While most OEMs are updating their devices and systems to comply, they will also be liable for copycat devices and components that access their systems and collect data.
Not only do counterfeit devices and components represent a significant revenue drain for the rightful owners of technology products, they also represent a significant risk to OEMs and to end users of the technology.
Apart from the obvious financial losses for designers and manufacturers, the security risk of poorly manufactured devices is enormous. Those components can cause malfunction and service disruptions as well as be used to tap into corporate and government networks, collecting confidential data or allowing hackers to take control of critical infrastructure.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia closes digital health sale to Withings founder Eric Carreel, who plans relaunch by EOY
https://techcrunch.com/2018/05/31/nokia-closes-digital-health-business-sale-to-withings-founder-eric-carreel-who-plans-relaunch-by-eoy/?sr_share=facebook&utm_source=tcfbpage
Nokia has closed the books on its unlucky foray into digital health devices and services, and with it, a business is marking its return to the world of startups.
closed the sale of its digital health division, along with 200 employees, to Eric Carreel, the former chairman and co-founder of Withings. Now Carreel plans to relaunch the business once again under the Withings brand
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Week in Review: IoT
SenseTime gets $620M; security woes; Internet Trends 2018.
https://semiengineering.com/the-week-in-review-iot-100/
SenseTime of Beijing, China, received $620 million in Series C+ funding, valuing the company at more than $4.5 billion. Alibaba Group led the new funding
Toronto-based Ecobee, a developer of smart thermostats, raised $36 million from Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, AGL Energy, and BDC Capital, bringing its total private funding to $155 million. Less than two months ago, Ecobee raised $80 million (earlier reported as $61 million) from investors that included Amazon’s Alexa Fund.
Cybersecurity
A White House report, ordered last year by President Trump, concludes that about three-quarters of federal government agencies have cybersecurity programs that are “at risk” or “at high risk,” almost three years after the Office of Personnel Management had a significant data breach, exposing security clearance information about more than 20 million current and former federal employees. Meanwhile, an episode in Portland, Ore., where an Amazon Echo device mistakenly recorded a conversation between a husband and wife, then forwarded an audio file of the conversation to someone on their contact list, is raising questions about security measures for Internet-connected devices in the home. “Experts say the expanding ecosystem of internet-connected devices such as smart thermostats, home security systems, and electric door locks are increasingly susceptible to hackers, including those trying to leverage voice-command devices,” Olivia Beavers writes in this piece.
Venture capitalist Mary Meeker’s annual Internet Trends presentation was unveiled this week. At 294 presentation slides, it is exhaustive and exhausting. When it comes to IoT topics, there are references to the Amazon Echo, Google Home, Nest Labs, predictive maintenance, fitness tracking, and precision cooking, among others.
Google Cloud became a sponsor member of the LoRa Alliance and will give a keynote address at the 10th annual LoRa Alliance Open House in Vancouver, Canada, on Thursday, June 7.
How hackers can exploit devices used at home
http://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/389481-how-hackers-can-exploit-devices-used-at-home
Tomi Engdahl says:
New Age Solutions for In-Building Security Systems
http://www.electronicdesign.com/systems/new-age-solutions-building-security-systems?PK=UM_Classics06118&utm_rid=CPG05000002750211&utm_campaign=17648&utm_medium=email&elq2=ee27a113bac346ac97de2bce9aa5569b
Advances in sensor technology plus the addition of more powerful processing technology, let alone a shift to wireless interfacing, have dramatically reshaped intrusion-detection and in-building security systems.
Historically intrusion-detection systems were mostly a simple wired set of hardware consisting of control panels, door/window contacts and perhaps a passive motion sensor or two that carried minimal software integration and/or operational intricacy (Fig. 1). Over the past decade, though, both residential and commercial building customer demands have influenced the complexity and utility of the individual components, as well as the complete functionality of these system solutions.
Legislative Matters
One of the first drivers of this evolution was new government legislation being enacted in many regions of the world, specifically in the developing world and countries where a large chasm exists between the classes of population. Most impactful has been a mandate that first-order threat verification must be conducted prior to the dispatching of emergency services. This was due to a significant increase in the false alarm rates and erroneous deployments of municipal resources (police, fire, EMS, etc.).
Going Wireless
Another major advance in the in-building security solutions sector has been the move from wired to wireless interfacing—not only between the individual sensor nodes and the control panel, but also from the entire system deployment to its associated remote-monitoring station or operations center. For many decades, the sensor-to-panel connection was made using low-voltage serial wiring, most often of the RS-485 variety commonly found in many other building control applications. Such hardwired interfacing required significant effort, and cost steadily rose for system installation.
With the advent of very-low-power, short-range wireless technology, a number of manufacturers extended their hardware system portfolios to include wireless-system versions, enabling much easier initial deployments. This shift, in turn, has reduced implementation time as well as cost.
Advanced User Interface
One other area within the in-building security equipment space that’s evolved significantly is the user interface. Only a short time ago, intrusion-detection-system control panels were comprised of simple pushbutton and dial interfaces. However, with smartphone and tablet use now pervasive across nearly all target consumer demographics, the user experience of residential- and commercial-building control equipment, including intrusion-detection systems, thermostats, and smoke detectors, has leapt into the 21st century.
Platforms of the Future
When reviewing the multiple areas of upgrade and evolution of in-building security or intrusion-detection systems covered here, a strong push can be made to generate new technology “platforms” to integrate and promote many or all of these innovative advances within a single vehicle. This is true for both the end-equipment manufacturers as well as for the solution providers to the intrusion-detection-system equipment market.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Technologies>Embedded Revolution
Developers Discuss IoT Security And Platforms Trends
http://www.electronicdesign.com/embedded/developers-discuss-iot-security-and-platforms-trends?PK=UM_Classics06118&utm_rid=CPG05000002750211&utm_campaign=17648&utm_medium=email&elq2=ee27a113bac346ac97de2bce9aa5569b
Tomi Engdahl says:
Trends you missed at LightFair International 2018
https://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/led-diva/4460690/Trends-you-missed-at-LightFair-International-2018
Lighting meets radar
The metamorphosis of the LED lighting industry was on full display, continuing the shift from a focus on just lighting and lighting quality to additional functionality and connectivity. A case in point is the Radar Technology for Smart Lighting sensor shown by Avnet. This sensor uses 24 GHz Doppler radar originally designed by Infineon for automotive applications to not only detect the presence of occupants in a space but also their speed and direction of travel. One potential application for this technology is in roadway lighting, where street lights could detect an approaching vehicle and light the road ahead in accordance with the vehicle’s speed.
Very sensored
Another example is the smart sensor from enlighted that packs a lot of functionality into a small package. This device combines PIR, temperature and ambient light sensors, and Bluetooth, and can read energy consumption from a driver in a luminaire. These sensors can be networked
The merger of the lighting and electronics industries also continues unabated. Lighting companies are expanding into sensing/networking, and companies with no lighting background are offering LED lighting product lines.
Light quality for plants and people
There’s some recognition that legacy lighting does, in some cases, provide superior light quality. A case in point is the new line of Cree XLamp CMT LED arrays aimed at markets for which color rendering is exceptionally important (think retail and museums). These packages are available in specialty color points that are designed to replicate Ceramic Metal Halide, but with the efficiency and longevity of LEDs.
The enthusiasm for IoT implementations seemed more muted than last year. Perhaps the industry is coming to the realization that IoT is easier said than done.
For a trip to the lighter side, take a look at these “neon” signs by G2G Lighting that replicate the pop of neon using flexible LED tubes, the only noticeable difference being the absence of the “buzz” of neon lighting (perhaps they could offer it as an option). At 2.8 watts per foot (vs. neon at 3.5-4 watts per foot), a sign might draw 50 watts, but energy efficiency is not the only point. These LED tubes provide uniform light without the gaps or dark spots that can plague neon.
Tomi Engdahl says:
IIoT And Predictive Maintenance
https://semiengineering.com/iiot-and-predictive-maintenance/
Users are realizing ROI through predictive maintenance with new technology.
One selling point for the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is it makes it possible to catch equipment failures before they happen by using predictive maintenance. What makes IIoT technology good for automating factory floors and simplifying data collection from smart meters and other products makes it good for keeping factory equipment running.
Predictive maintenance can provide wafer fabs and other industrial facilities the ability to know when a certain machine might go down, based on vibration monitoring, power consumption, and other means to detect anomalies in operation. Being able to stay ahead of equipment shutdowns in a mine, steel mill, or factory can save money and time for a busy enterprise. Predictive maintenance can be used to monitor and update devices.
Although predictive maintenance is related to preventive maintenance, they are not the same. Operators perform both types of maintenance before equipment fails, but they use different data sets to determine when and what form of maintenance is needed. Predictive maintenance relies on the actual condition of the equipment in question, using real-time data coming from sensors to give operators visibility into the current state of the equipment. Preventive maintenance uses manufacturers’ maintenance schedules based on statistics of average or expected lifecycles for that equipment. Predictive maintenance enables the timely use of corrective — often unscheduled — maintenance.
“Maintenance programs have been around for decades. I’m sure there’s people that have been and consider themselves as having been part of predictive maintenance even before IoT was a thing,”
“With the advent of Industry 4.0 for manufacturing, companies are able to leverage new technologies, such as the Internet of Things, in order to monitor and gain deeper insight into their operations in real time, turning a typical manufacturing facility into a smart factory,”
“Simply put, a smart factory is one equipped with technology that enables machine-to-machine (M2M) and machine-to-human (M2H) communication in tandem with analytical and cognitive technologies so that decisions are made correctly and on time.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Windows now powers IoT devices
How would it sound if hundreds of millions or billions of IoT devices were running on Windows and centrally updated for them? Many can spin their heads, but this can be a reality with a fast timetable. The solution is a combination of WIndows 10 IoT and Azure. At least theoretically, Microsoft has solved the problem of IoT hardware management and security.
Microsoft’s Michael Epprecht told the company’s plans at Arrow Electronics’s IoT Summit in Helsinki today. MS intends to offer IoT solutions to companies as a service. Hardware development is facilitated by iron, with the same driver integrated with Microsoft’s own block along with ARM processors. It would not have been a long time ago.
- Each IoT project lasts 18 to 24 months. We want to make the IoT development easier, and it will succeed on the Azure platform through IoT services, “Epprecht told reporters.
For the customer, the most important thing is that you do not need cloud skills. All IoT data is available in Azure IoT Central. Devices can be connected to the network and manage and visualize data in many different ways.
Azure Sphere is an ARM-based, certified microcontroller for which MS promises a 10-year secure life cycle. Epprecht already showed a development card with Mediatek’s microcontroller. MS gives IP licenses for circuit and card manufacturers free of charge. – We are not going to the MCU business, Epprecht emphasizes.
The block developed by the MS on the IoT controller is called Pluto. It is a security subsystem that monitors everything that the driver does. – Pluto restarts the system if it detects something unusual.
- Sphere OS works on devices with two flash memory. When the update is run, the Pluto block will check the boot process every time that everything works as it should. If it does not work, a previous version of the second flash will be run, Epprecht explains.
The development of Sphere OS devices takes place in C’s Visual Studio or any other tool, making it easy. Azure IoT Device development tools work on all platforms, so Microsoft has really become open.
Source: http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/8071-windows-valtaa-seuraavaksi-iot-laitteet
Tomi Engdahl says:
IoT-automaatio kätevästi pilvessä
http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/8069-iot-automaatio-katevasti-pilvessa
Tomi Engdahl says:
Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:
Microsoft announces Windows Collaboration Displays platform for Surface Hub-like displays and Windows 10 IoT Core Services with promised updates for next decade
Microsoft announces Windows Collaboration Displays and IoT Core Services
https://venturebeat.com/2018/06/05/microsoft-announces-windows-collaboration-displays-and-iot-core-services/
At Computex 2018 in Taipei, Microsoft announced new Internet of Things (IoT) services and enterprise hardware during a keynote address. The news follows Microsoft’s promise last month to invest $5 billion into IoT over the next four years.
“For Microsoft, it’s more than just screens and devices; it’s about creating services and experiences with technology that support ambitions and aspirations,” Nick Parker, corporate vice president at Microsoft, said in a statement. “Imagine the devices and experiences we can create with ubiquitous computing, infused with AI and connected to the cloud. This is such an incredible time for our industry.”
On the intelligent edge front, Microsoft announced a new category of Windows 10 devices, called Windows Collaboration Displays; Windows 10 IoT Core Services; and a new IoT partner community.
Windows Collaboration Displays are large-scale devices designed for boardrooms. They’re preloaded with products from the Microsoft 365 family
In a related announcement, Microsoft took the wraps off of Windows 10 IoT Core Services, a new offering that aims to ease the burden of bringing IoT devices to market. It includes Device Health Attestation (DHA), which helps OEMs ensure that client devices have secure BIOS and boot software configurations enabled, and a suite of tools for managing operating system updates, app updates, and settings.
IoT Core Services, which is a paid offering, is meant to complement Windows 10 IoT Core, a lightweight version of Windows 10 optimized for IoT devices. It was released in August 2015 and counts Misty Robotics, Johnson Controls, and Askey among its users.
Device Update Center (DUC), one of the pillars of Windows 10 IoT Core Services, will allow users to create, customize, and control operating system, driver, and OEM-specific file updates, and to distribute them via Microsoft’s Windows Update content distribution network. It will also support test flighting to devices prior to widespread rollouts.
On the security front, DHA, combined with a device management system like Microsoft’s Azure IoT Device Management, can re-image devices or deny them network access.
Windows 10 IoT Core Services is backed by 10 years of support via the Windows Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC), Microsoft says, and devices will receive “quality” updates every two to three years that won’t introduce new features, minimizing the potential for exploits, bugs, and instability.
Tomi Engdahl says:
IoT-powered beer chiller is administered by T-Mobile, AWS
https://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2018/05/iot-beer-chiller.html?cmpid=enl_cim_cim_data_center_newsletter_2018-06-04&pwhid=6b9badc08db25d04d04ee00b499089ffc280910702f8ef99951bdbdad3175f54dcae8b7ad9fa2c1f5697ffa19d05535df56b8dc1e6f75b7b6f6f8c7461ce0b24&eid=289644432&bid=2125376
Pro Chiller Systems (Auburn, WA), a supplier of packaged chilling solutions for the beer, wine and dairy industries, recently unveiled what it calls “a game-changer for beer crafters” – aka the company’s new, internet of things (IoT)-powered Total Cooling Control (TCC) solution – at the 2018 Craft Brewers Conference in Nashville, TN.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Power Harvesting Challenge: Scavenge Some Power, Win Prizes
https://hackaday.com/2018/06/04/power-harvesting-challenge-scavenge-some-power-win-prizes/
Tomi Engdahl says:
IoT CloudPets in the doghouse after damning security audit: Now Amazon bans sales
Self-appointed privacy paladin Mozilla points out fatal flaws
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/06/06/amazon_dumps_cloudpets/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mirai Variants Continue to Spawn in Vulnerable IoT Ecosystem
https://www.securityweek.com/mirai-variants-continue-spawn-vulnerable-iot-ecosystem
Tomi Engdahl says:
Conductive Plastic, Wi-Fi Backscatter Yield Zero-Power Wireless Sensor Connectivity
http://www.powerelectronics.com/alternative-energy/conductive-plastic-wi-fi-backscatter-yield-zero-power-wireless-sensor?NL=ED-003&Issue=ED-003_20180606_ED-003_868&sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_1&utm_rid=CPG05000002750211&utm_campaign=17704&utm_medium=email&elq2=f3184b2781ab4d8f81e43adff38544dd
Using additive manufacturing, researchers devised a way to remotely sense motion via Wi-Fi backscatter, without any interconnecting wires or need for power at the sensor.
University of Washington (Seattle) claims to be the first to devise a way to print 3D (additive manufacturing) objects that function as sensors using plastic with embedded conductive threads, and then connect these wirelessly to the local 2.4-GHz Wi-Fi node. The technique uses RF backscatter so that the Wi-Fi system sees the change in physical appearance or location of the sensed object (they call them “widgets”). The result is a low-cost, wireless, zero-power transducer/Wi-Fi link
Tomi Engdahl says:
Smart Citizen Opens Eyes and Ears in Barcelona
https://hackaday.com/2018/06/05/smart-citizen-opens-eyes-and-ears-in-barcelona/
BBC about the battle with noise in Barcelona’s Plaza del Sol. The Plaza is a popular meeting place for tourists and residents alike, with loud parties continuing into the middle of the night, those with homes overlooking the Plaza were struggling to sleep. But to get any changes made, they needed a way to prove to the city council that the noise was beyond reasonable levels.
Enter the Smart Citizen, an open source Arduino-compatible sensor platform developed by Fab Lab Barcelona.
Today people tend to approach crowdfunded projects with a healthy dose of apprehension, so it’s nice to see validation that they aren’t all flash in the pan ideas. Some of them really do end up making a positive impact, years after the campaign ends.
Tomorrow’s Cities: How Barcelona shushed noise-makers with sensors
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-41015486
Families placed the sensors on their balconies and were able to demonstrate that night-time noise levels – with peaks of 100 decibels – were far higher than World Health Organization recommendations.
Armed with this information, the residents went to the city council, pressing them to rethink the use of the plaza.
Police now move people on at 23:00. Rubbish lorries, which had previously cleared up when the partygoers left in the early hours, have been rescheduled for the morning, and steps that provided seating for gatherers have now been filled with plant boxes.
“Now the square is not just for people who want to party at night,” said Mr Diez.
His vision for fab labs goes further, imagining them as a vehicle to allow cities to become truly self-sufficient. They can provide its citizens with technology to grow their own food, 3D-print new products whenever they need them and offer them the tools they need to fight the growing problems of urbanism.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Implementing remote technical training
https://www.controleng.com/single-article/implementing-remote-technical-training/b37ab62c9865dd18b66d5bfbbf9aba54.html
By using an Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) gateway, or a remotely-controlled PC, critical how-to skill-based training can be made available to engineering students anywhere there’s an Internet connection.
How it works
Consider a customer who requires hands-on training to become comfortable with the programming and configuration of a PLC. Traditionally, either the customer must travel to your office, or you and the devices must travel to the customer. Naturally there is a cost in both time and money to make this happen. Enter the Industrial IoT Gateway. This connects the customer PC to the devices. Think of it as a really long cable going from the customer’s PC all the way to the devices in your office. Add an IP Webcam and the customer can see how the device responds.
Industrial IoT (IIoT) gateways and virtual private networks (VPNs) have been used for years to allow remote diagnostics and troubleshooting of computer systems and industrial automation systems. In the past, these systems could be complicated to manage, only worked within specific networks, or posed a security risk. In short, they often did not work. But today it is possible to get stand-alone units that operate independently over a 4G wireless connection to the Internet, making operation simple and keeping the IT department happy. This same technology can be leveraged to make remote hands-on training possible for any Ethernet or USB device.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Understanding the convergence of IT and OT
https://www.controleng.com/single-article/understanding-the-convergence-of-it-and-ot/bf2d3ec1764b8679638866145475830e.html
Information technology (IT) and operations technology (OT) are converging to improve manufacturing operations, that can offer benefits such as improved productivity and security.
Learning from IT/OT implementation
Many lessons can be learned as there are more advancements in technology to improve IT and OT implementation including:
Scale of implementation: Connecting billions of devices simultaneously was a major technological challenge in the past. This issue got resolved a decade ago with IPv6 that enabled trillions of devices to be connected and operate at the same time. Manufacturing plants also need thousands or tens of thousands of assets to be connected which brings in the aspect of the scale of implementation. This is the first lesson from IT implementers to those managing OT.
Enterprise IT implementations over the years have matured and have tested operating infrastructures where thousands of connected devices with different functionalities handle communications in a mesh network operating 24/7 seamlessly. It is possible to connect devices across different locations and scale this connectivity to thousands of assets.
Security: It’s possible to implement networks and get them to operate with the highest possible security. After all, security threats posed to them would probably be the most severe given the rewards involved for hackers. For example, when money is withdrawn from any ATM of any bank from any location across any country, it dispenses money in a predictable time. This activity involves various processes including:
Identifying, authenticating, and calculating how much the withdrawer has and how much the user can withdraw
Dispensing money based on the denominations of currencies available in the ATM
Simultaneous update of the bank account
Sends the withdrawer an instant text message of the transaction and balance.
The system does all of this in a very predictable manner. Billions of transactions occur day after day in a secure and cohesive fashion. This is how the IIoT functions; the internet is connecting numerous disparate devices with many cybersecurity measures.
Stability of the infrastructure: Enterprise IT has been around for decades and its wide adoption across industries has been made it possible because of the assurance of a predictable response in terms of quality and time, substantiated by individual/organizational experiences on daily basis. The reason for this is the infrastructure’s stability. This is where architectures come into play.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Security’s role in manufacturing automation
https://www.controleng.com/single-article/security-s-role-in-manufacturing-automation/3dd4c43aeef5e589b121aad0ea061226.html
Advances in technologies can lead to great things for the manufacturing automation sector, but security has to play a key role as the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and Industrie 4.0 become more important.
The catch is users need to have a plan and be able to work through the plan to avoid any unintended consequences. “We need to think ahead and think about things,” Habibi said. “The human element is the weakest link.”
He said sometimes advances in technology can make humans weak because it can take over the thinking process and a sense of complacency can set in. That is something users will have to get over as the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) or Industrie 4.0 is moving forward. Habibi said Industrie 4.0 needs four things:
Sensors
Communications
Ubiquitous connections everywhere
Intelligence.
The technological move forward has quite a bit to offer manufacturers, but the awareness of what a user has out on the plant floor and what you can learn from it is an important factor in the digital age.
Courtesy: Bob Vavra, CFE Media”There is an opportunity to digitize all pieces of equipment, employees and devices,” Habibi said. “If a device is not digitized and it is out in the plant, you don’t have visibility and it does not exist.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
IoT Software Testing: Four Essential Elements
https://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1333359
IoT devices pose a tremendous threat to cybersecurity. Many devices have weak security features and receive insufficient testing.
The global Internet of Things (IoT) market is slated to grow to $8.9 trillion by 2020. IoT segments in the B2B sector alone will generate more than $300 billion annually by 2020, according to Bain & Company. These figures attest to IoT’s enormous potential —– and with more than 11 billion connected things projected to be in use this year, that potential is already being realized.
But the promise of IoT is not without risk. Hackers have exploited connected devices to mine cryptocurrency and launch high-profile cyberattacks, fostering public distrust and generating regulatory scrutiny that could ensnare a wide range of stakeholders. Amid this climate, it has never been more essential to ensure the proper testing of IoT devices.
Often combining new technology with rapidly developed software on newly created hardware, IoT devices can be difficult to test, and the means by which these devices are developed can expose them to critical bugs undermining functionality, interoperability, reliability, safety, and performance. Here are the four most important aspects to avoiding disaster and enabling IoT to securely fulfill its potential.
Interoperability testing
Software systems’ ability to communicate, exchange, and apply information — their interoperability — is at the heart of IoT. When testing interoperability, testers check syntax and data format compatibility, physical and logical connection methods, and user-friendliness. Software programs must be able to route data back and forth without compromising the device’s operation or losing data. Each component of the software must therefore recognize incoming data from other programs, seamlessly integrate with the larger architecture, and provide users with readily accessible, useful results. Real-world crowd testing and advanced lab testing are both valuable tools for testing interoperability, allowing testers to test both real devices and in a controlled, simulated network environment.
Automated test
Companies are delivering software-based services, products, updates, and patches at an ever-accelerating rate, and factors such as time-to-market can make or break a company. Test automation is crucial to both a company’s continued, fast-paced operations and time-to-market, making it not a nice bonus but rather an absolute necessity.
DevOps, in which a core focus is improving time-to-market, is inseparable from test automation.
End-to-end testing
Finally, ensuring a system’s integrity requires end-to-end testing. The multiple subsystems that comprise a software system must all function properly, lest the entire system risk failure. End-to-end testing verifies a system’s functionality and the proper communication of its sub-systems, which makes this process essential to understanding how well an application will function.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Toward IIoT Security Standards
What the industrial IoT would look like if it was mature, secure and reliable.
https://semiengineering.com/toward-iiot-security-standards/
Security is a high priority within Industrial IoT projects, but it is advancing like the rest of the industry—inconsistently, with big gaps between the leaders and everyone else.
That isn’t unique to one or two industrial segments. It applies to all of them, and even to slices within particularly industries.
“There is some confusion about security because it’s not just the IT issues,” said Frederick Hirsch, a standards manager at Fujitsu. “There are operational technology issues that also need to be resolved, and there are special conditions to be considered in each industry.”
Hirsch should know. He helped to develop the security framework the Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC) published earlier this year, and has been involved in in standards-development working groups on privacy and security at OASIS, as well as IIC.
“Security concerns are different if you’re dealing with device to treat diabetes than for equipment on a light manufacturing floor,” according to Hirsch. “It’s getting to be a very complicated as the world gets more interconnected. You have all kinds of threats, all kinds of software flaws and all kinds of devices, so you’re not going to use the same approach everywhere.”
Blind insecurity
That is not unusual according to Cisco’s 2018 Security Capabilities Benchmark Study, which showed that devices without permission to be set up are allowed onto networks anyway, by organizations that just assume what they are and that whatever they’re doing is legitimate.
The “endpoint visibility gap” ranges from 12% for government agencies, 33% for healthcare organizations, 43% in technology companies and 50% in finance.
Tomi Engdahl says:
8 Views from Imec’s Researchers
Radar more politically correct than cameras
https://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1333363
As Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation went into effect, Imec researchers demoed radar as an alternative to surveillance cameras to provide data while protecting identity. The systems, aimed at use in smart buildings, sensed and tracked moving robots and humans, including vital signs such as breathing and heart rate.
Demos showed 7- and 77-GHz radars tracking the movements of robots using various machine-learning algorithms. So far, it’s unclear which frequencies are best-suited to radar for smart buildings.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Secure Download Firmware Update (DFU)
https://www.eeweb.com/profile/microchip/articles/secure-download-firmware-update-dfu
This video is part two of Microchip’s attestation presentation covering secure download firmware update (DFU). Learn how to implement a secure (OTA) firmware update with a traditional micro-controller using a Microchip secure element such as the ATECC608A. It’s a simple, cost efficient yet robust security implementation that protects the key verifying the signed code comes from a legitimate source.
Tomi Engdahl says:
http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/8111-omron-tehostaa-iot-tietoturvaa-tuotannossa
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/18/06/07/2118233/can-an-os-for-electricity-double-the-efficiency-of-the-grid
https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2018/6/5/17373314/electricity-technology-efficiency-software-waste-3dfs
Tomi Engdahl says:
Let’s improve
productivity
through real-time
management
http://www.brother.com/as_oc/ism/en/sp/iot/index.htm
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Week in Review: IoT
https://semiengineering.com/the-week-in-review-iot-101/
At the Computex show in Taipei, Taiwan, Microsoft this week introduced Windows 10 IoT Core Services, which includes Device Health Attestation, detecting whether client devices have secure BIOS and boot software configurations enabled. The new paid services complement Windows 10 IoT Core, which debuted in 2015. Core IoT Services also features the Device Update Center, which enables users to control, create, and customize updates for operating systems, drivers, and OEM-specific files.
NXP Semiconductors is working with Mastercard and Visa to introduce a white-label wallet service, mWallet 2GO, developed on the NXP Secure Service 2GO Platform. Montblanc has implemented mWallet 2GO for its own mobile wallet. Meanwhile, NXP is partnering with Baidu Cloud in China to secure IoT devices, utilizing Baidu’s Tiangong IoT platform.
The VPNFilter malware infecting routers and other Internet-connected devices has infected more than the 500,000 devices initially estimated, and it is adding malicious capabilities to each infected device
ON World forecasts shipments of wireless sensor network chipsets will rise from 1 billion units in 2018 to 3.4 billion units in 2023. The growth will be driven by wireless mesh sensor networks, location-aware personal area networks, and low-power wide-area networks, according to the market research firm.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Q&A: S2’s Impact on Z-Wave and IoT Security
http://www.electronicdesign.com/communications/qa-s2-s-impact-z-wave-and-iot-security?code=UM_NN8ST5&utm_rid=CPG05000002750211&utm_campaign=15960&utm_medium=email&elq2=ddeb2f994ef24883b5a1452a853eece2
Z-Wave Alliance Executive Director Mitchell Klein discusses the S2 framework and what it means for the future of Z-Wave devices and beyond.
Wong: What was the genesis for the S2 framework development?
Klein: As smart-home adoption began to increase, we recognized the need to prioritize the security of our devices. Intrusion and hacking of connected devices becomes more prevalent every day; our goal for the S2 security solution is to provide high security for all Z-Wave devices and to ensure there are no vulnerabilities in a Z-Wave network.
Wong: Will S2 be backwards-compatible in other devices or updatable OTA?
Klein: Security will no longer be optional for Z-Wave manufacturers to deploy; therefore, through an easy update, all gateways with 500 series chips and all devices that allow over-the-air (OTA) upgrades are able to add S2 to existing devices. Z-Wave devices also include signal jam detection and the tunneling of all Z-Wave over IP (Z/IP) traffic to eliminate any cloud vulnerability.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Security Essentials for the Internet of Things
http://www.electronicdesign.com/iot/security-essentials-internet-things?code=UM_NN8ST5&utm_rid=CPG05000002750211&utm_campaign=15960&utm_medium=email&elq2=ddeb2f994ef24883b5a1452a853eece2
As Ethernet’s role grows in the Internet of Things, recent technology advances in IEEE 802.1AE MACsec and IEEE 802.1x KeySec will help provide a much-needed layer of network security
Now universally adopted in wide-area networks, Ethernet is poised to play a crucial role as the standard communications backbone in the IoT, too. Its very adaptability, high-performance, low cost, and scalability make Ethernet especially suitable in various Industrial IoT (IIoT) settings, such as smart energy, intelligent transportation, factory automation, and industrial process control—even the connected car.
All Call AAA
The OSI protocol stack can host security protocols at various levels. Due to regulations like PCI, HIPAA, Sarbanes-Oxley, and Basel II that mandate strict data confidentiality, applications may run their own security protocols with application- and layer-specific encryption. SSH and HTTPS, which operate at Layer 4 (L4) and above in the OSI stack, are two such examples. IPSec (operating at Layer 3, or L3) is typical in routed networks. In Ethernet networks, however, which operate at Layer 2 (L2), IEEE 802.1AE MACsec is the standard encryption protocol (see “The Skinny on IPsec vs. MACsec”).
As the IIoT standardizes on Ethernet for networked communications, L2 encryption becomes an ideal solution. The reason is simple—there’s a direct relationship between the OSI layer at which security is implemented and the security solution’s strength. Securing at a lower layer means more robust protection.
Still, encryption is just one aspect of security, only covering data confidentiality. It does not, for example, prevent unauthorized access on a trusted network by a hacker spoofing a “trusted” device. To prevent such intrusions, it’s imperative to authenticate, authorize, and account (AAA) for devices and networks, as well as applications. This is arguably even more essential than application-layer security.
While AAA is commonplace for the applications layer, these principles are less uniformly enforced for the network and device/link layer. The latter may be especially vulnerable, since rogue devices could be swapped with network elements outside of physically secured areas and gain access to an entire network. Without securing the network and device/link layer, application-level security is largely in vain.
The other critical piece to Ethernet security is the IEEE 802.1x KeySec protocol. When used with a Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service (RADIUS) authentication server, KeySec can deliver the AAA capabilities needed to secure Ethernet communications.
Through a combination of IEEE 802.1AE and IEEE 802.1X, Ethernet can readily handle numerous security requirements, , such as:
• AAA: This establishes the origin of any secure data transmitted in the network (using IEEE 802.1x and a RADIUS authentication server).
• Data integrity: The MACsec Integrity Check Value Field (ICV) safeguards against data replacement, modification, or delay beyond specific bounds. The ICV reflects changes when an Ethernet payload is tampered with—if it fails to match what was sent, the traffic is dropped.
• Data confidentiality: Using IEEE 802.1AE MACsec AES encryption (128- or 256-bit) ensures that only intended parties can read secured data.
Support for strong 256-bit, as well as 128-bit, encryption will be imperative for IoT devices.
We already see this requirement emerging—the IEEE 802.1AEbn standard centers on enhanced confidentiality using 256-bit encryption.
The Basics of MACsec
MACsec generates a secure Connectivity Association (CA) between two or more trusted Hosts. Within each CA, security is guaranteed. A MACsec instance, or Security Entity (SecY), exists in each Host for every CA. Multiple CAs are needed for network-wide security.
At any given point in time, only one Secure Association (SA) resides on an SC. SAKs are updated regularly, allowing each SC up to four SAKs for present and future use. The SA is a long-lived relationship between Hosts, whereas the SA is short-lived, existing only as long as a particular SAK is in use.
MACsec is designed for use with the port-based access-control protocols of IEEE 802.1XTM, which includes the Extensible Authentication Protocol over LAN (EAPOL) and MACsec Key Agreement protocol (MKA, or KeySec).
Going With The Flow: The New Face of MACsec
So if L2 security is the best for Ethernet communications, why haven’t we seen it more widely used in wide-area networks (WANs)? IEEE 802.1AE MACsec, as originally designed, encrypts network traffic on a link-by-link basis. This approach limited its practical use anywhere other than data centers and local-area networks. However, recent technology advances address this limitation, paving the path for widespread use of L2 security in the WAN.
A modern tag- and flow-based implementation of the MACsec standard from Vitesse Semiconductor incorporates several key innovations:
• VLAN headers or MPLS tags of Ethernet packets are left unencrypted, or “in the clear.” As a result, L2-encrypted data is able to be routed and switched normally through third-party networks that can remain unaware that the data is even encrypted.
• Connection flows, rather than entire WAN-facing ports, are encrypted.
• IEEE 1588 network timing is preserved in conjunction with line-rate 256-bit AES encryption. Encryption and timing accuracy are traditionally incompatible.
These technology advances make MACsec well-suited to secure WAN networks, especially as Ethernet becomes ubiquitous in all network types.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Vesper Technologies Aims to Amplify MEMS Microphone Production
http://www.electronicdesign.com/analog/vesper-technologies-aims-amplify-mems-microphone-production?NL=ED-003&Issue=ED-003_20180611_ED-003_293&sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_1_b&utm_rid=CPG05000002750211&utm_campaign=17798&utm_medium=email&elq2=38abe98785b44f14a1b1d87ecbeea72e
James Morra | Jun 05, 2018
When Vesper Technologies raised $23 million in funding last month, the MEMS microphone maker’s investors included many of the major players in voice-controlled devices. Amazon’s Alexa Fund, Bose Ventures, Synaptics and Baidu poured money into the funding round, which was led by American Family Ventures, the venture capital division of insurance giant AmFam.
As voice assistants like Amazon Alexa and Google Home turn talking to smart speakers into an everyday occurrence, Boston, Massachusetts-based Vesper is trying to capitalize on the push to control everything from televisions and wearables to refrigerators and headphones with a few simple spoken commands. The startup makes microphones that consume much less power than traditional ones.
Tomi Engdahl says:
New ‘PyRoMineIoT’ Malware Spreads via NSA-Linked Exploit
https://www.securityweek.com/new-pyromineiot-malware-spreads-nsa-linked-exploit
A recently discovered piece of crypto-currency miner malware isn’t only abusing a National Security Agency-linked remote code execution exploit to spread, but also abuses infected machines to scan for vulnerable Internet of Things (IoT) devices.
Dubbed PyRoMineIoT, the malware is similar to the PyRoMine crypto-currency miner that was detailed in late April. Both mine for Monero, both are Python-based, and both use the EternalRomance exploit for propagation purposes (the vulnerability was patched in April last year).
Tomi Engdahl says:
Home Internet How to secure IoT devices
How to secure IoT devices
https://www.broadbandtechreport.com/articles/2018/06/how-to-secure-iot-devices.html?cmpid=enl_btr_weekly_network_technology_2018-06-12&pwhid=6b9badc08db25d04d04ee00b499089ffc280910702f8ef99951bdbdad3175f54dcae8b7ad9fa2c1f5697ffa19d05535df56b8dc1e6f75b7b6f6f8c7461ce0b24
French company Legrand, which recently acquired U.S.-based Wattstopper, a commercial lighting controls and building systems company, has been working with CableLabs
subsidiary Kyrio and security design partner Microchip on Internet of Things (IoT) security. Manufacturing is underway, and products utilizing the embedded Kyrio/Microchip digital PKI certificates are expected to roll out later this summer.
The three companies released a white paper last week with the intent of explaining the technology used, but also to further the idea that IoT issues need to be dealt with not as security, but as logistical problems.
“There have been tons of articles (about) needing IoT security, but no one talks about how,” said Ronald Ih, Kyrio director of business development. “With Microchip and Legrand, we are getting to the how …. The how is the logistics.”
The white paper spells out the challenges of IoT security, including the fact that there typically is not an active user behind each device. Instead, the devices are rather autonomous and log on and send data on their own. In other words, the IoT device becomes a user on the network and needs to be authenticated.
“The situation demands a practical and economical way to deliver private keys and certificates that belong to hundreds of PKI domains and thousands of manufacturers making billions of devices. This is something PKI can do in theory but is not something that has been done scalably in practice,” the white paper said.
While enterprises have used “Cadillac” versions of PKI, these highly customized and costly solutions are not economically or technically feasible for small IoT devices.
Cloud service providers and network providers want to know devices belong on the network. For example, a commercial lighting company, like Legrand, might have a management system for thousands of lights. They need to know that everything that shows up on the network is a correct, authorized device and not an interloper with a laptop in the parking lot, Ih said.