Page 14 - Security Today, April 2017

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Finally, emerging IoT uses cases will increase the need to ensure the security of an Internet of Trusted Things (IoTT). Trusted identities will help secure, custom- ize and enhance the user experience across a growing range of industry segments that are embracing the power of the IoT. Organizations are looking to streamline processes and operations using real-time location systems, presence- and proximi- ty-based location functionality, condition monitoring solutions, beacons and cloud- based models leveraging emerging solu- tions that secure IoT use cases. Emerging solutions will also advance existing secure proof of presence capabilities to include the predictive analytics and functionality based on location-based technologies.
In parallel with these activities, there will be a growing awareness that new identity challenges have arisen in applica- tions where mobile access control meets the IoTT.
New Identity Challenges at Intersection Between Access Control and the IoT
A major concern among facility managers is that the links between systems and as- sets will be compromised in the IoT. The industry has already alleviated these fears in access control applications with the ad- vent of trusted identities that are commu- nicated over protected channels using the latest cryptographic algorithms. Readers and credentials are now essentially trusted devices that are connected to the facility’s access control system.
More recently, smartphones have sim- ilarly become trusted credentials that can be connected to these systems through the cloud.
Early Successes
An early example of how access control and the IoT are merging is the use of mobile ac- cess technology to help facility managers efficiently control HVAC systems based on a person entering or exiting a suite or com- mon area using a mobile ID. The HVAC and energy management systems will au- tomatically adjust the settings, for example, turning off lights when the last person leaves the area. This is what integrator Da- tawatch Systems is doing for its customers with a combination of its Datawatch Direct Access System and HID Mobile Access. In the future, Datawatch is exploring further mobile access control integration with
more building utility systems.
The same trusted identities used for
access control can be extended to other IoT applications for numerous additional smart building activities. A prime example is automating maintenance management systems that are physically linked to fire and safety equipment, heating and cool- ing systems and other critical, high-value assets. For decades, RFID transponders have connected these physical assets to business applications, enabling organiza- tions to manage and track inventory levels and improve operational process efficien- cy. Now, mobile devices can be combined with trusted tags and cloud authentication to secure cloud maintenance management software (CMMS) applications.
Users tag equipment to connect it to the Internet, enabling technicians to then use their mobile devices to simply tap the tag in order to access these cloud-based CMMS applications. This model also makes it possible to track the service start time, duration and status of completion to improve billing accuracy. From the initial tap to initiate service to the final tap that closes the ticket, the previously manual process is now fully automated, improving workflow while minimizing any disruption of equipment productivity.
Marrying access control with IoT ap- plications using trusted identities promises to make systems and applications much easier to use. The ability to secure CMMS and other IoT applications will make en- tire processes much more seamless and easier to manage from initiation to follow- up, resulting in a more responsive and pro- ductive mobile workforce.
A key requirement moving forward will be the ability to implement identity-proof- ing with an unbroken chain of trust for all access control transactions in both the physical and digital worlds, and to base this chain of trust on an ability to verify claims of true identity, rather than simply verifying ownership of a digital identity that someone might be using fraudulently. With this foundation in place, trusted ID solutions will be poised to make daily life easier and more productive in the physical and digital worlds and the IoTT, for to- day’s increasingly mobile users who con- tinue to be the most important elements in any security strategy.
Julian Lovelock is the vice president of Innovation and Platform Strategy at HID Global.
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