Microsoft Azure IoT security platform now generally available
The integrated security solution for IoT devices and equipment, says the company, is its answer to escalating IoT cybersecurity threats. A fully realized security system that protects devices over time, Azure Sphere includes several key components: the Azure Sphere-certified chips that go into every device, the Azure Sphere operating system (OS) that runs on the chips, and the cloud-based Azure Sphere Security Service.
Its mission with Azure Sphere, says the company, is to empower every organization on the planet to connect and create secured and trustworthy IoT devices.
“General availability is an important milestone for our team and for our customers, demonstrating that we are ready to fulfill our promise at scale,” says Halina McMaster, Principal Group Program Manager at Microsoft. “For Azure Sphere, this marks a few specific points in our development. First, our software and hardware have completed rigorous quality and security reviews. Second, our security service is ready to support organizations of any size. And third, our operations and security processes are in place and ready for scale. General availability means that we are ready to put the full power of Microsoft behind securing every Azure Sphere device.”
Azure Sphere is designed to offer a fast track to secured IoT deployments by having seven properties built-in that the company says every IoT device must have in order to be secured:
- Hardware-based Root of Trust
- Small Trusted Computing Base
- Defense in Depth
- Compartmentalization
- Certificate-based Authentication
- Renewable Security
- Failure Reporting
Every Azure Sphere chip includes built-in Microsoft security technology to provide a dependable hardware root of trust and advanced security measures to guard against attacks. The Azure Sphere OS is designed to limit the potential reach of an attack and to make it possible to restore the health of the device if it’s ever compromised. The company continually update the OS, proactively adding new and emerging protections.
The Azure Sphere Security Service, says the company, reaches out and guards every Azure Sphere device. It brokers trust for device-to-cloud and device-to-device communication, monitors the Azure Sphere ecosystem to detect emerging threats, and provides a pipe for delivering application and OS updates to each device. Altogether, says the company, these layers of security prevent any single point of failure that could leave a device vulnerable.
“The opportunity to release a brand-new product that addresses crucial and unmet needs is rare,” says McMaster. “Azure Sphere is truly unique, our product brings a new technology category to the Microsoft family, to the IoT market, and to the security landscape.”
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