Researchers at MIT have created a transmitter that could stop hackers from attacking IoT devices. Such devices are vulnerable to hack attacks that locate, intercept, and overwrite data, and jam signals, according to researchers working on the project. One method that can be used to protect data on IoT networks is frequency hopping. This sends each data packet, containing thousands of individual bits, on a random, unique radio frequency (RF) channel. This makes it difficult for hackers to trace individual packets. However, previous iterations of this method have typically slowed…

US telecoms giant AT&T and Finnish electronics firm Nokia have teamed up to provide an Internet of Things (IoT) offering to organisations globally. The two companies are using Nokia’s Worldwide IoT Network Grid (WING) to offer AT&T’s enterprise customers the use of Nokia’s existing IoT services, including core network, IoT operations, billing, security, and data analytics. AT&T’s cloud-based Multi-Network Connect platform will be used as part of the package to simplify connectivity to WING, and to manage IoT devices across multiple cellular and satellite networks, operators, and regions via a…

When it comes to the kind of low-power, wide area (LPWA) connectivity needed to connect vast networks of sensors in smart factories, on smart farms, and across smart cities, Chinese uptake looks set to be a deciding factor in the question of which cellular standard is likely to have the biggest impact: NB-IoT or LTE-M? According to a report last week from market research company Berg Insight, it seems that NB-IoT (Narrowband IoT) will win out, thanks to demand for the technology in the world’s most populous nation. That’s significant,…

The Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) has published a white paper on IoT device interoperability and roaming. The paper, IoT Interoperability: Dynamic Roaming, investigates how – with between 20 and 30 billion connected devices coming online by 2020, by different estimates – there is an urgent need for interoperability to allow IoT devices to roam across networks. The white paper addresses the ways in which devices could roam at scale without intervention. It focuses on the steps necessary for IoT devices to connect to different networks, successfully authenticate themselves, and enable…

A vulnerability affecting hundreds of routers in Singapore could have given hackers complete access to connected devices. According to a blog post by researchers at cybersecurity specialists NewSky Security, Singapore ISP Singtel opened up port-forwarding to fix a technical issue on their routers, but forgot to close the ports afterwards. That vulnerability allowed access to all devices connected to the affected hardware. Research lead Ankit Anubhav – who discovered the flaw, dubbed ‘ForgotDoor’ – said that the affected routers had port 10000 wide open, meaning that they could easily be…

Edge intelligence startup SWIM.AI has announced new smart city and Internet of Things (IoT) offerings, powered by its EDX AI software. Earlier this year, the 2015-founded company came out of stealth mode to launch its EDX platform. The product is designed to supply business insights in real time from IoT devices, by autonomously building digital twins from streaming data in the edge environment, via real-time analytics and predictive machine learning. SWIM EDX runs on existing edge devices, forming a computing mesh for edge processing. In this way, companies can –…

A new European consortium is to begin working on Brain-IoT, a framework to improve the interoperability and security of Internet of Things (IoT) devices. The consortium includes 12 industry and academic partners from France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK, including Airbus CyberSecurity, Siemens AG, and service robotics company, Robotnik. The consortium is headed by Istituto Superiore Mario Boella (ISMB) in Italy, and co-funded by European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme, with a budget of €5 million. Brain-IoT aims to establish a framework and methodology that supports IoT platforms, offering model-based…

Connected technology firms are now able to apply for a specialist IoT certification from the British Standards Institution (BSI) to show that their products are secure. After a lengthy consultation process, the BSI has unveiled the Kitemark for Internet of Things devices, to help buyers easily identify IoT products that are trustworthy, safe, secure, and functional. Recent research has found that the average household has up to ten internet-connected devices, with that number expected to grow to 15 by 2020. However, other reports have revealed that many popular smart home…