Page 9 - GCN, April/May 2018

Can IoT transmissions be securely encrypted?
BY PATRICK MARSHALL
Although the internet of things has been booming — with internet- connected sensors being built into refrigerators and bridges, surveillance cameras and smart TVs — some researchers have issued dire warnings about the vulnerabilities of IoT-enabled devices. One of the most critical concerns is the inability of tiny devices that are short on computing resources to effectively encrypt data.
In November 2015, a team of mathematicians announced that it took them only eight hours to crack the widely used IoT encryption solution offered by the Algebraic Eraser. More robust public-key encryption would provide the security IoT needs, but
the devices don’t have the computing power required to run software-driven
public-key encryption protocols.
MIT researchers might have solved the problem. A team led by graduate
student Utsav Banerjee announced that it has created a tiny chip suitable for inclusion in IoT devices that is purpose- built to perform public-key encryption. According to the researchers, the chip uses only 1/400 of the power that software execution of the protocols would require. It also does the job 500 times faster than software.
The same team had earlier created chips that could handle the elliptic- curve type of encryption used in most public-key systems. However, in those early efforts, the chips could only work with a single family of elliptic curves. The new chip announced last month can handle any elliptic curve.
“Cryptographers are coming up with curves with different properties,
and they use different primes,” Banerjee said in a statement. “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. 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.”
The researchers also hardwired the Datagram Transport Layer Security protocol, which is used to format
and transmit the encrypted data. Executing the protocol via hardwiring dramatically cuts the amount of memory required for execution.
At least as important, the new chip can be powered down when not in use — a critical capability in IoT devices that run on batteries. •
DHS drafts handbook for integrating first responder tech
BY SUSAN MILLER
As the number of devices, apps, and network and situational awareness tools for first responders multiplies, the Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate has written a handbook for developing and managing such technologies.
The Next Generation First Responder Integration Handbook outlines a plug- and-play, standards-based environment designed to enable commercially developed technologies to work with existing first responder infrastructure.
“The age of large, proprietary and disconnected first responder systems
is ending,” the handbook states, so
the key to its integration model is a modular system that allows responders
to select components with open standards and interfaces that can easily be incorporated into their own systems. The model also emphasizes scalability so agencies can build systems that meet their mission needs and budgets.
DHS also aims to make it easier for entrepreneurs to compete in the first responder marketplace, which should lower costs and increase choices for public safety organizations.
The handbook has three parts.
The introduction reviews the basic components that make up the Responder SmartHub — the on-body sensor and communications networks that make integration possible. The second section presents a more detailed technical review of the components and the interoperability standards.
The technical supplement explores the programming required for data and software integration and has a list of program requirements that have been defined in partnership with first responders to help industry develop technologies that meet user needs. •
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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY