Data Science

​​Consumer IoT Applications Segment to Reflect the Highest CAGR in the Global IoT Sensor Market The global market for IoT sensor is anticipated to account for an estimation of about $9,900 million through the end of the calculated period in 2026, up from an estimated value of about $3,350 million through 2017. Organizations and industries have been utilizing different sensors for a while, however, the invent of the internet of things has participated as sensors along with developments of sensors to an entirely unusual level. By blending an arrangement of sensors along with a communication network, the devices can share data with each other and are enhancing their functionality and effectiveness. There are a variety of types of IoT sensors in the market such as temperature, pressure, magnetometer, humidity, gyroscope, accelerometer, image and inertial. In the automotive segment, most sensors on a car record their view of the surroundings and transfer that data into databases. The information is then processed and all the vital new snippets of data are sent to every other vehicle. This is a progressing procedure, through which the vehicles are getting to be consistently smarter. In the manufacturing segment, IoT sensors are utilized to diminish the cost of making along with the cost of upkeep and decrease the utilization of wastage of materials and energy. The global market for IoT sensor is anticipated to account for an estimation of about $9,900 million through the end of the calculated period in 2026, up from an estimated value of about $3,350 million through 2017 end, reflecting a 12.7 percent CAGR all through the forecast time frame of 2017-2026. The key aspects fuelling the expansion of the IoT sensors market comprise increasing demand for smart devices, supportive government initiatives of the various developing nations, advancements in sensors themselves, requirement for real-time computing of applications, strong requirement in the automation industry, expansion of smaller, smarter and cheaper sensors, expansion in the automotive industry as well as purpose of sensor fusion perception in IoT sensors market.

​​Kaspersky Lab, ITU-T partner to strengthen IoT security New Delhi India, Feb 20 (ANI): Amid rising prevalence of cyber threats and elaboration on crucial industry standards, Kaspersky Lab ICS CERT experts teamed up with ITU's Telecommunication Standardisation Sector (ITU-T) to develop Recommendation ITU-T Y.4806 "Security capabilities supporting safety of the Internet of Things." In January, a new international standard on "Security capabilities supporting safety of the Internet of Things" (Recommendation ITU-T Y.4806) officially came into play. Recommendation ITU-T Y.4806 was developed by Study Group 20 "Internet of things (IoT) and smart cities and communities" of ITU-T, classifying security issues for IoT, examining possible threats for security systems, and clearing out the safe execution of IoT cyber-physical systems supported by security capabilities. Kaspersky Lab researchers have shown that non-computing connected devices incidents are among the top three incidents with the most severe financial impact, for both SMB and enterprise organisations, and are going to increase. In the wake of the recent TRITON attack targeting industrial control systems, it became obvious that attacks on cyber-physical systems can affect not only the information aspects, but also functional safety. Therefore, the study group collaborated to determine which security capabilities specified in Recommendation ITU-T Y.4401/Y.2068 "Functional framework and capabilities of the Internet of things" support safe execution of IoT. The experts provided up-to-date specific recommendations for IoT framework security. Recommendation ITU-T Y.4806 is mostly applicable to safety-critical Internet of things (IoT) systems, such as industrial automation, automotive systems, transportation, smart cities, and wearable and standalone medical devices. Additionally, Recommendation ITU-T Y.4806 considers how the joint analysis of threats and security capabilities mentioned herein may be used to establish security requirements for the different applications of the Internet of things. "In the wake of the recent TRITON attack targeting industrial safety systems, it became obvious that attacks on cyberphysical systems can affect not only the information aspects, but also the functional safety. Our aim was not only to plant the flag on the idea of high probability of security breach attacks, but also to determine the methodology for developing specific requirements. We believe that our contribution to ITU-T's IoT security standard (Recommendation ITU-T Y. 4806) will help organisations develop more efficient cybersecurity strategies to fully face up to modern cyber threats," said Andrey Doukhvalov, Head of Future Techs, Kaspersky Lab. To counter the above vulnerabilities and other less frequent IoT security challenges, recommendations developed by Kaspersky Lab ICS CERT experts described how to proceed from consideration of the types of impact on the cyber-physical system to the analysis and modeling of threats to functional safety, and then to the development of recommendations on security measures, illustrating the described method with concrete examples. To avoid attacks such as TRITON, and as per Recommendation ITU-T Y.4806 which summarises the data necessary to establish the requirements for industrial control systems to resist security threats that could affect safety, Kaspersky Lab experts urged the implementation of reliable communication infrastructure and monitoring mechanisms, as well as mutual authentication and authorisation for management and control. Furthermore, experts also suggested better audit of management and control procedures and attack detection mechanisms, and installation of measures to monitor the load on equipment and communication channels, including the detection of both unintentional overload and denial of service attacks. (ANI)

​​⛑A "leather" display showing the state of human health At Tokyo University, a gadget has been created in the form of an electronic skin, which is attached to the human body and reads the most important data on the health of the wearer. As Engadget tells, the development facilitates the provision of the first medical aid due to the constant display of vital indicators. Sensors that measure the pulse and remove the cardiogram are installed in the skin-coated "skin". Data from the sensors can be wirelessly synchronized with the smartphone or immediately sent to the "cloud". As for the LEDs, which 384 pieces in 16 rows, they form a display on which the information about health is displayed. Such a screen, capable of stretching by 45%, is enough for deducing even dynamic data, including cardiograms. Along with the elasticity of the electronic skin, another important property is that it passes air, which does not cause the wearer any discomfort.

​​IoT Network Tracks the Weather The co-founder of a weather network and analytics company describes a proprietary IoT sensor network it is deploying to give it an edge. Understory was built by two University of Wisconsin–Madison graduate students in 2012, Alex Kubicek and I. Our idea was to create a sensor that would measure and record weather in real-time to optimize business operations, improve safety and help people anticipate and prepare for weather events. So far, the Understory network is deployed in five metro areas including Dallas-Ft. Worth, Houston, Denver, St. Louis and Kansas City, covering six million homeowners. We have plans to expand to 75 metro areas, installing more than 5,000 sensors by 2020. The road from a great idea to a new product passed through several challenges. Understory had a goal to build an innovative solution for the market that could withstand extreme weather and bypass common IoT pitfalls. The heart of Understory’s analytics platform is what we call RTi, which stands for real-time and is also refers to Artie, a scientist diligently taking measurements in the field. RTi is a solid-state weather sensing device that detects hail impacts, rainfall and other real-time measurements and transmits them wirelessly to our cloud. With no moving parts, RTi is well-suited for permanent installation in remote, harsh conditions. The proprietary hardware consists of a metallic sphere that simultaneously senses impacts of hail, wind speed, direction and rain, combining three sensors into one. Our team built RTi with off-the-shelf hardware that enabled us to cost effectively deploy a robust sensor network quickly. Pressure, humidity and temperature measurements are performed by commodity components. RTi also uses cellular networks, giving us adequate bandwidth to provide real-time weather data. Our hardware is cellular carrier agnostic and adapts to the best carrier for the region. Due to its low maintenance and cost-effective construction, a network of devices can be deployed to capture hyperlocal weather phenomena in new ways. Since Understory installs, maintains and upgrades the networks, making it easy for a potential site host to agree to the installation is a top priority. The networks were designed from the ground up to allow us to deploy an entire city of 50 or more sensors in less than three months Iterating on the hardware was paramount as we encountered new challenges in the field. No one has deployed industrial weather networks in this manner before, so the learnings were critical to our success. Our top design priorities included using sensors that can stay connected to our cloud 24/7 using only solar power. For security, we wanted a consistentcloud connection that enabled fast debugging, failure assessment and the ability to push out updates to counter cyber-attacks. On-board digital signal processing and storage means only essential data is transmitted. If connectivity is lost, data is saved to be transmitted upon reconnection. An RTi only needs servicing once every five years as opposed to the semiannual care traditional weather stations need. Installation requires a single wrench and takes less than an hour. The RTi self-calibrates and transmits data to the cloud moments after activation, enabling deployment of a metro network within a few weeks. Combining these priorities allows us to scale our networks quickly and enables Understory to create an entirely new sensing infrastructure that provides accurate and timely measurements to our customers.

​​Google to acquire Xively IoT platform from LogMeIn for $50M Google announced today that it intends to buy Xively from LogMeIn for $50 million, giving Google Cloud an established IoT platform to add to their product portfolio...

​​🤖Robot Investments Weekly: Drone and IoT Matches Get Made - Drone and IoT partnerships; - Acquisition to promote STEM training; - Mirae marries Global X as ETFs grow fast; - Industrial automation gets funding; - Service robotics startups get support.

​​Wonder chip reduces IoT encryption power consumption by 99.75pc This week in IoT, a new chip not only makes encrypting 500 times faster, but it can do so with 99.75pc less energy. There was a lot going on this week in the internet of things (IoT) realm, particularly on the hardware side of things as prestigious academic institution MIT revealed a number of new technological breakthroughs. Among them was a new chip that can take the power of neural networks, capable of crunching huge amounts of data, and put them natively on your smartphone. The special-purpose chip can not only speed up the rate of computation in neural networks by a factor of seven, it also manages to reduce its power consumption by up to 95pc. MIT also recently revealed a device that sounds too good to be true, known as the thermal resonator, which can generate energy just by the simple passing of day into night. By availing of the shift in temperature between the two times of day, the device could enable a continuous, years-long operation of remote sensing systems, making it ideal for IoT technologies. New wonder chip makes IoT encryption a doddle Just to make it a hat-trick this week, MIT also revealed a special-purpose chip hardwired to perform encryption, consuming 99.75pc less power than software execution using the same protocols would. It also uses about one-tenth as much memory and executes 500 times faster, all through public-key cryptography that lets computers share information securely without first agreeing on a secret encryption key. Like most modern public-key encryption systems, the researchers’ chip uses a technique called elliptic-curve encryption. As its name suggests, elliptic-curve encryption relies on a type of mathematical function called an elliptic curve. “There is a lot of debate regarding which curve is secure and which curve to use, and there are multiple governments with different standards coming up that talk about different curves,” said Utsav Banerjee, first author of the research. “With this chip, we can support all of them and, hopefully, when new curves come along in the future, we can support them as well.” Advent of 5G leaves Sigfox struggling to meet growth French start-up Sigfox has achieved enormous success with its low-power, wide-area IoT networks established in dozens of countries, including Ireland. However, according to Reuters, the firm has admitted that it is now struggling to meet its growth targets as companies wait to see how 5G networks are progressing. Sigfox said that it missed its revenue targets for last year, but CEO Ludovic Le Moan believes his company’s technology is still showing promise and will at least break even by the end of 2018. “There’s a lot of noise around 5G these days,” Le Moan said. “But these technologies 5G that are being put in place are much more costly. For telecom players, this is all about generating new revenue.” He argued that while the roll-out of 5G networks towards the end of the decade will cost billions of euro per national market, Sigfox’s IoT networks would cost millions. 5G hits the slopes in Pyeongchang Speaking of 5G, one of the first places in the world to avail of the super-high speeds is Pyeongchang, currently the site of the 2018 Winter Olympics. According to Bloomberg, the technology is being used by the South Koreans to create an animal control system that uses sensors to see when porcines wander into tracks. When it senses them, the system will not only shoot rays and emit tiger roars to keep them away, but will also throw in some foul-smelling gases just to make sure the creatures don’t go where they’re not supposed to. Some other technologies on display include a fleet of autonomous shuttles to bring people around, as well as 360-degree images in real time showing competing figure skaters as they glide around the ice.

​​IoT by name or nature? Delivering experience over appearance The last few years have seen a whole raft of IoT vanity projects, where connectivity for connectivity’s sake was the order of the day.....

​​🔋Battery-less power source coming for IoT devices? US research centre Bridg has teamed up with a private company, Face International, to produce a battery-less source of power for IoT sensors – although its description sounds similar to a perpetual motion machine, which has been deemed to be impossible. The device, called Evercell, “employs a unique design and advanced materials to harvest thermal energy in any environment where the ambient temperature is above absolute zero – reliably generating the microwatts of electrical power needed to run wireless IoT sensors without the need for batteries,” according to a Bridg press release. The research firm says it expects its first generation of the postage stamp sized Evercells to come in three versions, each generating 1.2V and, respectively, 4.32 microwatts, 400 nanowatts and 800 nanowatts of continuous power. These are tiny amounts of power, but the output could be increased by using multiple devices. According to Bridg, an Evercell demonstration device has been operating continuously for 16 months with undiminished performance, producing enough electrical output to power a typical wireless sensor. The firm says that it and Evercell intend to cooperatively undertake technology validation for product integration development and prototype manufacturing of Evercell power cells at Bridg’s NeoCity campus in central Florida, with the goal to achieve mass production by 2019, based on customer-driven demand. Bridg’s director of strategic partnerships, Dan Holladay, said that Evercell had the potential to be to batteries what the light bulb was to candles and oil lamps. “The cost, inconvenience, and inaccessibility associated with battery replacement make them impractical as a power source for many of the IoT sensor applications,” he said. “The promise of the Evercell technology could address an unmet annual demand for tens of billions of IoT devices relying on batteries that otherwise could not be deployed.”

​​💪The IoT Changes Everything, Even Application Monitoring he world is becoming a smarter place — and that’s not about IQ, though those are also generally going up. Rather, things that previously didn’t have a brain are gaining the ability to communicate and learn. Your toaster knows that you like a lighter brown than your partner; your car knows which route you prefer to go to work. The Internet of Things (IoT) is growing larger and faster, and it’s changing the world. While most folks focus on how the IoT is modifying their daily routines, business and IT leaders are more interested in how the IoT is affecting security and efficiency. Despite the initial burst of vulnerabilities associated with IoT devices, most experts agree that the IoT is doing great things, especially for application monitoring. Before the IoT, business leaders hardly bothered to notice the efficiency of their tools and app offerings. However, now that IoT devices connect to their networks, they are intrigued (and suspicious) enough to implement monitoring solutions. Here’s how this widespread adoption of application monitoring thanks to the IoT is affecting those tools and practices: Endpoint Management In offices everywhere, IoT devices are taking over. Smart thermostats, printers, security cameras, and more are beginning to outnumber traditional office equipment, and for the sake of network privacy, you must ensure these devices become and remain secure. Unfortunately, unlike traditional endpoints — such as desktop and laptop computers — many IoT devices have only rudimentary firmware and insubstantial operating systems. Thus, rather than installing antimalware, firewalls, and other protections directly onto the IoT device, you must find other security solutions to reduce vulnerabilities and keep your business safe. The diversity of endpoints inside and outside your office means you can’t pick and choose security solutions dependent on the device. The IoT requires more unified endpoint security, which is a shift from traditional application monitoring practices. Focusing on a holistic solution to endpoint security requires building an endpoint management policy that recognizes all devices and strives to keep them secure. The only other option is refusing to accept IoT devices on your network — and it seems unlikely that you’ll be able to hold them out for long. Performance Management Operating a business at less than peak efficiency is like throwing dollars down the drain. For large businesses, unplanned application downtime can cost over $1.25 billion every year due to lost income and costs to return regular service. Just one hour of less than peak performance can cost a business any size between $300,000 and $1 million. It is vital that every device and application used by your business remains in prime condition — but the addition of IoT devices complicates that process. Because the IoT increases the number and variation of endpoints in a network, application monitoring services need to be more agile to see and analyze new and diverse devices. To keep your network safe, you need end-to-end application monitoring, which provides a window into every device connected to your network. Then, it won’t matter whether you are monitoring a smartphone or a refrigerator; everything on your network will be visible. Even better, because you can see every device, you can better predict when hardware and software need maintenance or updates, so you can reduce the frequency of dangerous downtime. Data, Data, Data.. The IoT is driving application monitoring to collect greater and greater amounts of data. Because monitoring tools are working to ensure efficiency, they are acquiring and analyzing all sorts of information from nearly every device on the network.

​​Wayne Water Systems Integrates IoT Tech in Connected Basement Systems According to a recent announcement, ConnectSense, a smart home connectivity provider, has partnered with Wayne Water Systems, creators of residential water management solutions, on the company’s first premium digitally connected basement protection sump system. The Basement Guardian solution is powered by ConnectSense’s IoT 80/20 platform. It is a wirelessly connected basement protection system featuring two full size cast iron pumps. The new efficient backup pump reportedly can drain 11,000 gallons of water on a single charge. When a home loses power, the Local Link technology allows the homeowner to monitor their basement on their iOS or Android app from wherever they are. “Our team works great with companies like Wayne, who are passionate for their work and the customers they serve. The ConnectSense team is able to get their product connected and to market quickly and affordably, while staying competitive in their marketplace,” said Adam Justice, CEO, ConnectSense. “This allows them to focus on what they do best, building reliable, industry-leading pumps that help keep homes dry.” The team at ConnectSense has more than five years of Internet of Things (IoT) experience, leveraged their IoT 80/20 cloud platform built on industry-leading technology for scalability, reliability, and cost efficiency. ConnectSense has collaborated with several large home brands to make traditional household items smart, including Moen and Schlage. “We didn’t want to bring the Basement Guardian to market without leveraging a partnership with ConnectSense,” said Donald Williams, VP, Engineering, Wayne Water Systems. “They have an impressive reputation for producing seamless customer experiences and monitoring capabilities that are essential for the at-home sump pump system. We are confident they are the best partner to offer the IoT development our team needed.”

​​How could machine learning algorithms be applied to IoT smart data? The purpose of Internet of Things, (IoT) is to develop a smarter environment, and a simplified life-style by saving time, energy, and money. Through this technology, the expenses in different industries can be reduced. The enormous investments and many studies running on IoT has made IoT a growing trend in recent years. IoT is a set of connected devices that can transfer data among one another in order to optimize their performance; these actions occur automatically and without human awareness or input. IoT includes four main components:  1) sensors,  2)processing networks,  3) analyzing data, and  4) monitoring the system. The most recent advances made in IoT began when radio frequency identification (RFID) tags were put into use more frequently, lower cost sensors became more available, web technology developed, and communication protocols changed. Smart cities' devices generate data on a continuous manner, indicating that the data gathered from traffic, health, and energy management applications would provide sizable volume. In addition, since the data generation rate varies for different devices, processing data with different generation rates is a challenge. For example, frequency of GPS sensors updating is measured in seconds while, the frequency of updates for temperature sensors may be measured hourly. Whether the data generation rate is high or low, there always exists the danger of important information loss. Machine learning is a sub field of computer science, a type of Artificial Intelligence, (AI), that provides machines with the ability to learn without explicit programming. Machine learning evolved from pattern recognition and Computational Learning Theory. There, some essential concepts of machine learning are discussed as well as, the frequently applied machine learning algorithms for smart data analysis.

IoT for Good: How the Internet of Things is Transforming Our World for the Better Increasingly, the transformative power of the Internet of Things is making our world a better place. From reducing city pollution to creating smarter crop management practices and more sustainable energy, IoT is helping to advance economic and social benefits.

​​Practical Implementations of Internet of Things in our Daily Lives Internet of Things is a suite of devices that are designed to provide ease in our daily lives. Internet of Things has transformed the world in this last decade. IoT devices are handy and easy to use generally, they are specifically designed for specific purposes. Smartphones are one of the best examples of IoT. Internet of Things technology is commenced a year’s ago, but now it’s booming into IT market. The number of IoT devices utilized in organizations is increasing drastically that leads to the demand for IOT. We don’t know, but every day in our daily lives we make use of many IoT devices in your home, office, public places and other. IoT provides a media to exchange information between human and machines. It collects the information from surrounding environment and exchange data using embedded sensors, transducers, transformers, and software and networking devices. Here is a list of devices that will help in our day to day life which makes our lives easy. Securifi: It’s a device that can wirelessly connect 5,000 sq foot home, with four times faster than your average wireless router. It works with Zigbee and Z-Wave standards Xfinity Home Products: It provides users to control home in smart home. It protects against fire and break-ins while providing automation for lights, temperature and more. WeMO Belkin Home Automation: It consists of light and insight switches, Baby monitor, and motion sensor. This will help you to watch what happens in your home. It also works with IFTTT. Ninja Blocks: It’s weather gadgets to sense temperature and humidity levels, automatic turning lights even when you’re not at home and send SMS when some come at the door step. Fitbit Aria Wi-Fi Smart Scale: This for tracking the weight, body fat percentage and body mass index. It wirelessly syncs and automatically uploads your stats to an online graph. Withings Smart body analyzer: This device looks after your health and assists you to be fit. It comes with impressive features like full body language, weight goals, Heart measurement and long-term progress graph and indoor air quality monitoring. Sonos Music System: It is a system of Hi-Fi wireless speakers and audio components that integrate complete music collection, podcasts or a Radio in a single app. It provides users an option to play any in different rooms by using dedicated wireless networks. Philips Hue Light Bulb: It helps you to create light scenes based on your favorite pictures. This you can control from your smart device. Lockitron: It’s a smart lock, it ensures keyless entry inside using phone also you can monitor to see if the door is locked when you left. Also, it sends a notification if it’s unlocked. Smart baby monitor: It lets you watch over your little one’s respiration and check the temperature in the room. Also, inform you whether the baby is asleep or how active is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEQcLpTDmgc 🤖🤖🤖🤖🤖

​​🖲Small wake-up receivers could extend IoT sensor life One of the potential hindrances to ubiquitous Internet of Things (IoT) take-up is related to how one should power the possibly billions of tiny sensors promised over time. Can one expect a homeowner to change out a hundred or so coin batteries every few years in, say, a networked system, for example? That could get old fast. The same problem arises at an industrial level. Changing out sensor batteries in a remote installation is equally difficult to achieve, although for different reasons — you need to transport expensive people there to do it, for one thing. Consequently, there’s a quest for efficiencies. I’ve written before about using radio-waves themselves to power the sensors, as an example. IoT power-saving solution Another power-saving solution available to IoT is to make sensors sleep when they’re not being used. You then wake them up when you need them. One way to do that can be by shooting a radio pattern at them: the radio signature simply turns on the sensor. That method could significantly reduce the required power for the entire IoT rig over time, scientists say, because the radio standing by for the alert uses less power than the actual sensor does whether it’s sleeping or not. The sensor itself is entirely dormant. For that to work, though, you have to add bulk at the chip-antenna interface, and that’s a problem when you want the sensor to be minuscule, as one does in asset tracking or in a sensors-everywhere scenario, for example. Ultrasonic wake-up receiver for IoT sensors A solution to that issue might be about to become available. Researchers at Stanford University say they have developed a better wake-up receiver, or WuRX. One that would fit within mm-sized nodes. Ultrasonic is the way to go, they say. The Stanford researchers, who are presenting their solution to the IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference this week (PDF), say they’ve developed a device that operates using sound outside of the audio level that humans hear. That incoming ultrasonic, roughly at a dog whistle frequency, is better than normal radio for wake-up, they claim. That’s because the wavelengths are smaller. Smaller wavelengths allow for lowered power use and longer achievable distances for the triggering command. It also, maybe most importantly, allows for for a smaller package. The one nanowatt wake-up signature in Stanford’s analog-to-electrically-converted ultrasonic system uses “about a billionth the power it takes to light a single old-fashioned Christmas bulb,” writes Taylor Kubota in a Stanford News article. And it allows the IoT sensor to essentially be off when not in use. Improving IoT power life industry-wide is a multi-pronged effort. There’s a search on for power gains at the chips themselves, through sleeping, for example. And battery chemistry discoveries still lumber along — battery tech hasn’t changed much since Volta invented it in the year 1800, though. It still runs out. “A sleeping device can still suck the life out of a battery,” Kubota writes. “Smartphone users know that all too well.” And sensor power augmentation, such as through photovoltaic solar panels topping up the batteries is primarily only suited to fixed installs. “It is likely wake-up receivers of some kind will be integrated into commercial applications soon,” Angad Singh Rekhi, a graduate student involved in the Stanford project, says in Kubota's article.

🔑How blockchain can secure the IoT(Part 2) Securing operational technology Blockchain can also help to overcome the prevalent mindset in managing and securing industrial IoT and operational technology (OT) devices: once a sensor, device or controller has been deployed and is working, it cannot be touched. “Even if there is a known security vulnerability, it is not worth fixing it, because there is a chance that the security patch would cause problems elsewhere in the system that no one knows how to fix,” said Pindar. “But as cloud computing has demonstrated, there are continual failures of devices and systems when operating at very large scale. Simply put, it is not possible to manage large-scale systems that are fragile and not resilient to failure – as is the case with many current industrial IoT and OT systems.” Pindar said the solution is to allow continuous deployment of software updates, as well as blockchain technology after devices have been deployed, with little or no downtime through an over-the-air update system. “This has been shown to actually increase the availability of systems compared to an ‘avoiding failure’ approach,” he said. “Therefore, a cost and operationally efficient way of providing over-the-air updates and patching to IoT devices and sensors would greatly benefit the industry as a whole.”

🔑How blockchain can secure the IoT(Part1) The unprecedented distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack involving as many as 100,000 compromised devices in the Mirai botnet that nearly brought the internet to its knees in 2016 was a stark reminder of the sorry state of internet of things (IoT) security. At the heart of the problem is the security architecture of the IoT, an inherently distributed client-server model that uses a central authority to manage IoT devices, along with all the data generated across an IoT network. For IoT data to be trusted, all trust requests are aggregated into a single location, creating a single point of security intelligence that has, at times, compromised IoT security, leading to Mirai-style botnet attacks, according to Joseph Pindar, director for strategy in the CTO office at Gemalto, and co-founder of the Trusted IoT Alliance, a non-profit group that advocates the use of blockchain to secure IoT ecosystems. In these attacks, IoT devices are unable to adapt their behaviour because they are not considered “smart” enough to make security decisions without the help of the central authority. Pindar said blockchain removes this single point of decision-making that leads to failure, by enabling device networks to protect themselves in other ways, such as allowing devices to form group consensus about what is normal within a given network, and to quarantine any nodes that behave unusually. The second aspect, he said, is to form trust in IoT data by enabling what he called the five digital security primitives: availability, auditability, accountability, integrity and confidentiality. In blockchain, data is automatically stored in many locations and is always accessible to users. For auditability and accountability, a private, permission-based blockchain is used – where all users are authorised to access the network – and because all data stored on the blockchain is signed, each device is accountable for its actions. For integrity, blockchain is, at its core, a public ledger of data entries – every deletion or correction of data is entered – and as the entries are confirmed by the network, a complete chain of events is created, said Pindar. Blockchain is already being used in industries such as retail, where blockchain startup BitSE’s Vechain platform is being used to demonstrate the provenance of high-value goods, including premium wines and Louis Vuitton handbags, to Chinese consumers who have a particular need to understand the authenticity of goods. Pindar also gave the example of San Francisco-based Chronicled, which has applied blockchain to pharmaceutical supply chains to ensure tailored gene therapy drugs are delivered to the right person. “By utilising a secure IoT platform, they are also able to attest to the quality levels of the drugs and to ensure that these drugs do not fail during the supply process, which could impact the efficacy when taken by the patient,” he said.