IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine - October 2015 - 100

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Security, trust, and identity were
the pillars of IBE 3.0 that paved the
way for widespread and safe
adoption of the IoT.
that were connected, was tantamount to giving spying nations
and criminal gangs the keys to our respective kingdoms.

THE KEY TO UBIQUITOUS ADOPTION
While IoT growth stalled with each new security breach, it
eventually exploded with the widespread adoption of IdentityBased Encryption (IBE) 3.0-the first security schema that
was truly designed for IoT. IBE 3.0 was not a case of fitting
old security into a new solution, rather, it was about embedding modern security at the first stage of solution development and ensuring that the ability to confirm the identity of
things was a key design component.
The first IoT players to adopt this approach were the major
IoT network operators and semiconductor companies, who
quickly realized that IBE 3.0 could be embedded at the chip
level, ensuring ironclad security between any given chip ecosystem, its controller, and any other IoT applications with
which it needed to interact. Tesla's 62 microprocessors, for
example, could safely exchange information between the chips
and the vehicle's central controller, with smart cities, and even
with other vehicles. An oil rig was protected from the dangers
posed by outside threats since its 30,000 sensors now had ironclad authentication and encryption embedded at the chip level.
The path to widespread IoT adoption of IBE 3.0 accelerated with the establishment of in-country "trusted universities"
with which the early IoT networks and semiconductor companies worked to develop solutions. The process was elegant
and simple. The IoT provider had an application that it wanted to secure with IBE 3.0. It engaged with an in-country
trusted university that was entrusted with the IBE 3.0 code,
and together they designed the IBE code needed for their
developers to secure their products and networks to be
brought to market. IBE 3.0's emergence as the de facto standard for IoT ushered in a new era of dramatic growth in the
world's leading economies as the pundits' 2015 projections
of a US$17 trillion IoT market soon became a reality. As happened in other periods of massive technological change, new
companies emerged displacing those that did not or could not
react to the new business order, and others-including many
semiconductor companies-were swallowed up as the industry consolidated, pushing the early IBE 3.0 adopters to the
top of the microprocessor heap.
Security, trust, and identity were the pillars of IBE 3.0 that
paved the way for widespread and safe adoption of the IoT and
the many benefits that accrued from this remarkable technology. The world in 2029 is a better, more efficient, dramatically
safer place, thanks to the widespread acceptance and adoption
of the IBE 3.0-powered Internet of Secure Things.
100 IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine

october 2015

Prior to posting this article, I asked several of my colleagues to
read it and provide input. They kindly obliged. Thanks to those
who contributed-you know who you are. One common theme
among the early reviewers of this article was a request to better
understand how IBE 3.0 [which we have branded Certificateless Authenticated Encryption or (CLAE)] can be applied at
the chip level.
First, deploying CLAE in cars (or any other connected
devices, or networks), will secure the data within the device
(chip-to-chip security), and secure the connection externally
(car to traffic system, etc.). The CLAE Trusted Center (TC)
generates the decryption keys for any connected chip (an
internal or an external connection with other devices/sensors/
appliances). The TC needs to be authenticated, as an essential
security requirement. What follows are some different scenarios for deploying IBE 3.0/CLAE on chips.

CLAE IN OFFLINE MODE
A light/tight version of CLAE can be configured in an ASIC
designed with a tamper-resistant memory, which will allow running the TC functions at high performance levels. ASICs can be
reprogrammed after fabrication, allowing upgrades postdeployment. This could be implemented using single or multiple TCs,
depending on the level of security given to a group of chips (different trust level within the same thing-a car, for example).

CLAE IN ONLINE MODE
A master chip serves as a gateway route to secure and
authenticate all communication with the external TC. In this
case, CLAE is implemented in standard mode (as described
in our technical documentation).

CLAE IN HYBRID MODE
In this instance, the TC is deployed on the master chip,
allowing it to function as the internal TC, which communicates with the external TC. The external TC has administrative privilege over the internal one, and CLAE is applied to
securely authenticate the communication between other
external and internal TCs.
With CLAE embedded at the microprocessor level, IoT
product makers would be able to purchase CLAE-protected
chips, allowing them to develop products that are able to
securely communicate with other IoT devices and routers and
grow their IoT presence without having their offerings compromised from a security or privacy perspective.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bill Montgomery (bill@connectinprivate.com) is an innovative leader, communicator, high-level decision maker, strategist, and motivator. As CEO at ConnectInPrivate.com, he has
a passionate focus and is busy leading teams globally, working on spreading the word of and evangelizing the strengths
of their Identity-Based Encryption 3.0, branded as Certificate-Less Authenticated Encryption.

http://www.ConnectInPrivate.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine - October 2015