Mark Benson discusses understanding and mitigating security hazards in the IoT. He outlines that IoT poses both great threats and opportunities over the next 10 years. There are three main challenges to IoT security: resource constraints of devices, novel deployment topologies across networks, and new usage modes as devices are deployed, updated and retired. Security must be designed into products from the beginning and continuously improved over time as the landscape changes. Benson advocates for establishing secure processes throughout the product lifecycle to develop secure products and maintain brand integrity.

1. Understanding and Mitigating IoT Security Hazards
Mark Benson, CTO
@markbenson
IoT Developers Conference, 7 May 2015

2. The IoT threat and opportunity
Recent Economist survey:
Expect their company to be
using IoT within 3 years
“IoT is our single biggest
threat AND biggest
opportunity over the next 10
years” – Brand-name fortune
500 board of directors
*Source:
ABI
Research,
Cisco,
Craig
Hallum
Es9mates
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
$0
$50
$100
$150
$200
$250
Devices
Billions
Market
Size
Billions
Big
Data
Analy4cs
(53%
CAGR)
Connected
Device
PlaCorms
(33%
CAGR)
PlaCorms
(33%
CAGR)
Applica4on
Enablement
PlaCorms
(32%
CAGR)
Value
Added
Services
(26%
CAGR)
System
Integra4on
Services
(24%
CAGR)
Hardware
(23%
CAGR)
Connec4vity
(12%
CAGR)
Internet-­‐connected
devices
(Cisco
Es4mate)
95%

3. The Internet of Things?
More like the Internet of Attack Vectors
• Attack surfaces are expanding rapidly
• Physical access to systems is becoming easier
• Consumer privacy concerns are rising
• Consequences of a breach are becoming more severe (critical
infrastructure, brand deterioration, data privacy issues, etc.)
• Product companies are being forced outside of their comfort zones
• Three dimensions that make IoT security challenging…

4. 1. Resource constraints
MAC/PHY
IP
TLS/TCP
HTTP
App Data
MAC/PHY
IP
TLS/TCP
HTTP
App Data
MAC/PHY
IP
TLS/TCP
HTTP
App Data
MAC/PHY
IP
DTLS/UDP
CoAP
Binary Data
MAC/PHY
IP
DTLS/UDP
CoAP
Binary Data
SensorMAC/PHY
Binary DataRest
Use Motion
Motion
Motion
Use
Use
Use
Rest Rest
Enterprise Web Services IoT Data Platform Gateway or Aggregator Sensing Node
Has moderate resource constraints Has severe resource constraintsDeals with resource constraintsHas virtually no resource constraints
Network
MAC/PHY
Binary Data
Network

5. 2. Deployment topologies
Gateway IoT Cloud
Gateway On-prem
Gateway IoT CloudOn-prem
Gateway IoT CloudOn-prem Analytics
Analytics
Sensors Short RF Gateways On-prem SW Long-haul Cloud Platform Analytics platform
A. No cloud
D. Closed network
C. Multi-site
E. Comprehensive
B. Standard
Local
Display

6. 3. Usage modes
• Device cloud registration
* Secure authentication
* Secure API transports
* Secure storage
Initialization Operation Modification Retirement1 2 3 4
• Secure flash
* OTP parts
* Secure boot
* Secure provisioning
• Secure firmware updates
* Disable test/debug interfaces
* Factory defaults fallback
* Disable test interfaces
• Secure change of ownership
• Device de-registration process
• Optionally reenable retired devices
• Secure encryption key deletion
Things
to
note
about
IoT
usage
modes
that
affect
security:
1. Some
modes
are
normal
and
standard
solu5ons
exist
2. Some
modes
are
new
and
standards
are
s5ll
emerging
3. Some
modes
are
becoming
more
vulnerable
due
to
resource
constraints

7. Usage Modes
Sim
ple
NovelStandard
D
eploym
entTopologies
C
om
plex
Resource
Constraints
High
Low
The
IoT
security
problem
area
A. High
resource
constraints
B. Complex
deployment
topologies
C. Novel
usage
modes
Mo’ IoT, mo’ problems

8. The 4th dimension: time
Now we have a Tesseract
The
difficulty
with
IoT
security
is
that
the
landscape
is
constantly
changing,
even
aYer
products
are
deployed
Security
should
be
designed
for
from
the
beginning
and
embraced
as
a
journey
throughout
It
starts
with
a
process…
Modes
Topologies
Constraints
Time

9. The web you should be weaving
Secure processes => secure products => secure brand integrity
Security
Requirements
Planning Design Implementation Verification Validation Deployment Operations
Risk Analysis Threat Modeling
Secure Design
Practices
Security-Focused
Design Reviews
Secure Coding
Practices
Third Party Security
Audit
Security-Focused
Testing
User Testing to
Expose Weakpoints
Penetration Testing
Secure Deployment
Practices
Operational Risk
Assessment
Incident Response
Preparedness
Vulnerability
Management
Training and awareness
Information Security Management System (ISMS) policies, procedures, and compliance audits
Corporate strategy, governance, metrics, and optimization

10. Conclusion
Takeaways:
1. Security processes. Have a security architecture from the beginning and evolve throughout
(constraints, topologies, modes)
2. Technology selection. Make informed technology selections from the beginning that are
aligned with security goals for the company and product
3. Operations planning. Plan and prepare for how you will respond if and when a security
incident occurs in the field
Checklists
• http://owasp.org/
• http://builditsecure.ly/
Embrace the journey

11. Thank you
Mark Benson
@markbenson