IEEE Computer Special Issue on VLSI for IoT

Our new special issue of IEEE Computer on VLSI for IoT has been released here. The special issue was edited by Saibal Mukhopodhyay and myself.  Articles in the special issue look at issues in circuits, architectures, and applications that affect the design of VLSI devices for IoT system applications.

Qualcomm Announces Snapdragon Wear 1200

Qualcomm describes here its new Snapdragon Wear 1200 SoC which is aimed at wearables.

SiLabs CEO Talk on IoT

EE Times reports here on the DAC keynote talk by SiLabs CEO Tyson Tuttle.  He predicts that the IoT chip markets will take several decades to fully develop.  He believes that chip companies must understand the needs of system designers and provide tool sets as well as comprehensive hardware solutions.

Exynos i T200 SoC

Extremetech reports here on the Exynos iT200 SoC for IoT devices.  The chip features two arm processors and WiFi.

US-CERT Warning on North Korean DDoS Botnet

The U. S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) has issued this alert TA17-164A on North Korea's HIDDEN COBRA cyberwarfare unit and their efforts on building botnets for DDoS attacks.  This page includes links to indicators of compromise (IoC) to be checked by system administrators.  US-CERT that people who find evidence of these tools should be reported to either the DHS National Cybersecurity Communications and Integration Center (NCCIC) or the FBI Cyber Watch (CyWatch). The alert identifies tools and capabilities including DDoS botnets, keyloggers, remote access tools, and wiper malware. It says that HIDDEN COBRA primarily targets older versions of Microsoft OSs as well as Adobe Flash.

Article on IoT Standards

Reader Arjun KV forwarded this interesting article on the large number of IoT standards now in the marketplace.

Headphones Catch Fire During Flight

NBC News reports here on an incident in which a pair of headphones caught on fire while a woman was wearing them during a flight.

WikiLeaks Release on Hacking

NBC News reports here on a release by WikiLeaks, which claims that the released document describe CIA hacking techniques.   According to the NBC News report, these techniques include a variety of techniques for hacking IoT and consumer electronics devices.

IoT Shoes That Order Pizza

AV Club reports here on special Pizza Hut shoes with a pizza ordering button.  The report does not the wireless protocol used or the power consumption of the device.

Article on TVs that Spy on Viewing Habits

Extremetech reports here on the extensive spying on viewing habits and system configuration characteristics performed by Vizio TVs.

Interesting Article on IoT Camera Security

Extremetech posts here a very insightful article on security and IoT cameras.

US Department of Commerce Report on IoT Security

Reader K. V. Arjun passed along this news article on a report by the U. S. Department of Commerce that recommends the development of standards for IoT security.

Movie on The Lousy State of IoT Security

My friend Dimitrios Serpanos introduced me to this new movie starring Pierce Brosnan of 007 fame on the subject of IoT and smart home security.

Android Things

Google talks here about Android Things for the development of Android-based IoT devices.  Security is one of several goals of this project.

Why Not XPoint for IoT?

Tom's Hardware posted here an excellent survey on the 3D XPoint memory being introduced by Intel and Micron. XPoint is a non-volatile memory that can be written on a bit-by-bit basis, unlike flash. So far, I've seen extensive discussions of how XPoint will be used in servers and desktop/laptop systems but nothing for IoT systems.  Perhaps I'm missing something, but XPoint seems like a good match to IoT. Being able to write one bit at a time allows for very efficient use of the memory and low power overheads for writes. The endurance improvements don't seem to be as high as originally hoped for, but that may not be a big problem for IoT devices that are active only once every few seconds.  XPoint needs a volume driver to reduce costs; why not IoT?

Paths to Better IoT Security

So far, the free market hasn't chosen to supply consumers with a rich variety of secure, safe IoT devices.  I can think of at least two interventions to help move things along: regulation and certification.  These two approaches are complementary.
<p>
Regulations could be established by various countries to require devices sold in that country to meet certain security requirements.  Given the low level of security provided by today's devices, that standard would not have to be particularly high to improve the overall security of the IoT installed base.  Importation helps simplify at least one aspect of enforcement.  The U. S. Customs Service, for example, already checks each shipment into the U. S. for banned items---this mechanism is widely used to enforce patents.  And the economics of semiconductors mean that standards adopted by one large market could raise the level of IoT security worldwide.  Chips need to be manufactured in huge volumes to pay off their high design and manufacturing investment.  While some manufacturers may choose to build less-secure variants,  the more secure chips would become default choices for a wider range of IoT systems.
<p>
Certification can also help to raise consumer awareness of security issues.  The EnergyStar program is a good example of a voluntary certification program that has benefited energy-efficient products.  EnergyStar works because energy efficiency has emerged as a consumer desire that can be represented by the EnergyStar badge.  In the case of IoT security, personal privacy may be the best selling point for a certification program.  Privacy is something that consumers directly relate to and already care about.  The security required for improved privacy would benefit safety and a number of other imporant goals as well.

Cisco on IoT protocols

Here is an interesting blog post from Paul Duffy of Cisco on IoT protocols.