When looking at technology adoption, I am frequently reminded of Pandora’s Box from Greek mythology. This metaphor rings true when considering the Internet of Things (IoT). Whereas Pandora released a host of evils into the world, with IoT we have released new concerns associated with multiple technologies, multiple standards, scale, and security (or as I like to say, resiliency). When considering the information that flows from the edge, through the cloud, and ultimately to the data center, the lowest common denominator for protecting information is trust created by cryptography (as noted by nCipher’s Juan Asenjo in the other half of this blog series). In this blog, we are going to start by acknowledging the pitfalls of our particular Pandora and then discuss how we find hope in the solution provided by nCipher and Fornetix.

Olympic high diving requires concentration and self-control. Before divers jump off a 10-meter platform, they pause at the edge and concentrate on their goal: elegantly perform the acrobatic maneuver and gracefully pierce the water causing minimum surface disturbance. This same disciplined approach is required when adopting new and revolutionary technologies, such as those now available through the Internet of Things (IoT). Decision makers must assess the risks and benefits, consider potential difficulties, and then take the jump.

Ariel Mahlmann is a sales and marketing intern with Fornetix. A recent University of Maryland graduate with a bachelor’s in economics, Ariel focuses on cyber security market research and social media marketing for Fornetix.

Would you consider giving up personal data in exchange for a third-party app to show you what your ninety-year-old self will look like? The rise of social media brought lots of joy to consumers’ lives, allowing users to get glimpses of their future selves, to find out their horoscopes, and to communicate with others across the globe.

The demand for connected devices is growing exponentially, but the technology to secure these devices is lagging creating cyber security vulnerabilities at a massive scale.

The Current State of Cyber Security

Every day we hear about breaches, hacks, and cyber-attacks affecting banks, hospitals, transportation, and even entire cities. In some instances, the impact can mean life or death. Our most trusted institutions – like the US election process – are not the pillars of security they once were. And yet the demand for “connected everything” continues to grow in all sectors and across the globe.

Our Chief Technology Officer at Fornetix, Chuck White, sat down with Professor Andre Hinton from the New Cyber Frontier podcast to explore the ways powerful encryption can solve the big problems of cybersecurity. Take a listen using the audio player below!

When looking at the problems we were trying to solve with Key Orchestration, IoT and IoE have always been part of the grand vision of Orchestration. As more and more systems break down the concept of perimeters or layers, there is a need to address the realities of these changes.

A special thank you to Maha Amircani for her guest post discussing the reality of cyber vulnerabilities faced by major cities. Maha is an attorney in Atlanta, Georgia and founder of Amircani Law. A Georgia native born to immigrant parents from Egypt, Maha represents clients in city, state and federal court litigation as well as administrative proceedings. Her practice specializes in the areas of personal injury, criminal defense, and real estate closings.

There has been a lot of interest in protecting businesses from the threat of ransomware. But, city governments are at real risk and the impact reverberates to people like me who interact with them daily. After the City of Atlanta ransomware attack in March 2018, this became crystal clear.

Is RSA really less than a week away? It feels like just a few short months ago that the team at Fornetix was lamenting the fact that we'd have to wait until mid-April for the one event we all look forward to year-after-year.

“Smart” Doesn’t Mean “Secure”

Prior to 1975, there was no such thing as a smart home. Prior to 1985, all radio systems were analog. Prior to 1990, all phone systems were analog. Prior to 1974, all utility metering was analog. But all of that has changed; we now live in a digital world. 1’s and 0’s “run” our lives, and picking up an analog landline phone (POTS) is virtually a thing of the past. The new “hotness” is smart everything. Smart cars, smart phones, smart TVs, smart homes, and now smart grids.

Starting in late December, the Linux kernel development lists started buzzing about some commits going into the kernel without the usual documentation that adjoins such code changes. When an AMD developer added some code on December 26^th with the following comment, security researchers started zeroing in on the problem: