United States. Viakoo, a provider of solutions for managing and securing distributed IoT devices, received a patent for its method of remotely updating and managing a multitude of IP-connected devices, regardless of whether they reside in isolated networks, local networks, or wide area networks.
IoT and unmanaged devices increase the risk of cyber vulnerabilities and other operational challenges when they use outdated firmware or lack certificate management. This solution from Viakoo specifically addresses a growing cybersecurity security challenge critical to organizations that have a large number of managed and unmanaged IoT devices in their enterprise infrastructure.
"Modern IP networks have enabled valuable improvements in capabilities, management and operational controls in almost every industry and organization of all sizes," said Bud Broomhead, CEO of Viakoo. "Viakoo offers solutions that enable all organizations to dramatically mitigate risk while maintaining complex enterprise facilities that employ a myriad of managed and unmanaged IoT devices."
Many organizations have installed a wide range of IP devices over time, including security cameras, access drivers, sensors, printers, and dozens of unmanaged IoT devices. As a result, these organizations employ numerous devices from different manufacturers, many of which are not detected on the network. Keeping track of exactly which devices are installed and where they reside on the network presents a considerable challenge. Even more challenging is managing critical cyber hygiene functions, such as firmware updates, managing certificates, and ensuring operational integrity.
Until now, it was quite common for technicians to manually check each device to confirm its status, perform firmware updates, or log in to consoles unique to each manufacturer. Due to the onerous nature of these tasks, many companies perform them on rare occasions, delegate them to contractors or even forget to do them. In particular, the lack of timely firmware updates leaves organizations vulnerable to multiple known threats. Those who maintain their IoT devices often turn to default or common shared passwords to simplify the upgrade effort, defeating corporate governance. Despite the widespread use of certificates (TLS or 802.1x) to protect traditional IT systems, they have not been widely used for IoT devices due to the lack of an effective way to remotely connect to the device. The result of not being able to address comprehensive cyber hygiene is a growing attack surface of IoT and unmanaged devices.
This patent provides a mechanism for updating various functions at the device level, regardless of where the devices reside on the network. Using Viakoo's remote management capability, it is now possible to implement an enhanced and more scalable solution that maintains software updates, manages certificates, and enforces password policies for a large number of IoT devices across multiple distributed networks, thereby improving both operational outcomes and organizational security. Most importantly, Viakoo's new solution does not depend on any shortcuts, maintaining maximum security in protocols, passwords and verifications.
