Securing IoT Devices can be Never-Ending

By Ron Wilson, Intel FPGA

“Mommy, Daddy … Why is the sky blue?”

As you scramble for an answer that lies somewhere between a discussion of refraction in gasses and “Oh, look—a doggie!” you already know the response to whatever you say will be a horrifyingly sincere

“But why?”

And so on, until your patience lies in tatters at your feet. If you can capture that feeling, welcome to the world of Internet of Things (IoT) security, where no measure is ever quite enough, and no answer is ever unqualified. Just as with a child’s question—which could be idle chatter or the awakening of scientific curiosity—it will ultimately be up to you—the system designer—to say when enough is enough. And just as with that leading question, much will depend on what is actually at stake.

What is at Risk

Securing an IoT device can become, as we shall see shortly, a nearly infinite regression at nearly infinite cost. But as ARM* IoT Services group vice president Ian Ferguson observed at the recent IoT Device Security Summit, most IoT devices have cost targets far below near-infinity.

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