Can The Internet Of Things Be Secured?

The Internet of Things (IoT) crisis continues to apace. Can it ever be fixed?

08:56 01 May 2017

Security continues to be one of biggest challenges being faced by Internet of Things as more and more hackers exploit their vulnerabilities. Despite enormous efforts from security experts, smart toys still creep on kids and new botnets still come up with ways to exploit a range of internet-connected devices. Internet infrastructure company Cloudfare, though, has spent the last 18 months working on a fix. Today, it has announced Orbit, a new service that offers a new layer of defence for IoT.

 

Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince said: “The traffic to and from [IoT devices] will pass through Cloudflare’s global network. The idea is we’ll patch it in place. What sits behind us might still be vulnerable, but it buys some time for the software developer or the hardware developer to get the patch itself right and for people to apply that patch over time. So it’s an additional layer of security.”

 

Cloudfare will offer multiple data security options to ensure that data moving through the security layer is protected. It will also offer Orbit as a standalone product that IoT companies can use without paying for other Cloudfare services. The service does not replace firmware updates but provides some structure to an out-of-control security climate.