The number of Internet-connected devices, such as vehicles, smart meters and home monitoring systems, is predicted to reach in the billions by the year 2020. As a result, Verizon is launching a new easy-to-use enterprise portal for its Managed Certificate Services platform that offers digital certificate creation and management capabilities for large-scale IoT deployments in the tens of millions.
Offering a first line of defense, Verizon’s Managed Certificate Services (MCS) platform is specifically designed to authenticate objects and machines (much like two-factor authentication of people and machines) — verifying object and machine “identities” for the trusted exchange of information — and secure data transmitted between these connections.
Verizon’s new bulk certificate portal provides increased ease of commerce without large capital investment for enterprises, such as manufacturers and media companies with large IoT and/or traditional machine-to-machine (M2M) implementations. Featuring usage-based pricing, the new portal is aimed at helping organizations control management costs for securing the Internet of Things.
“With the massive growth of The Internet of Things and the use of connectivity to make devices smarter, businesses require a simple, scalable and effective way to manage identity and data integrity,” said Mike Denning, vice president of Global Security for Verizon Enterprise Solutions. “Building on our leading digital certificate technology and managed security services expertise, Verizon’s Managed Certificate Services provides the perfect foundation for helping to protect the Internet of Things from cyberthreats.”
According to the recent Harvard Business Review Internet of Things report, maintaining privacy and regulatory compliance is the number one obstacle (46 percent) blocking IoT deployment for enterprises. Another 28 percent were concerned about securing IoT sensors and associated data.
The new portal is available immediately in the U.S., Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.
According to industry analyst Kathryn Weldon from Current Analysis, “Verizon is uniquely positioned to provide comprehensive security solutions for the Internet of Things with its newly enhanced Managed Certificate Service platform alongside a broad range of other managed and professional IT security solutions. The new capabilities will provide security for IoT deployments to scale to the billions of devices expected over the next several years, and help protect them from cyberattacks.”
The Internet of Things At Work Verizon’s MCS portfolio is applicable for a wide range of uses including:
- Authentication and verification applications
- Services and enterprise and critical infrastructure (i.e., online shopping applications and smart grid deployments)
- E-government service delivery requiring sophisticated identity-proofing capabilities (i.e., license plate renewals and passport services)
Other applicable areas include medical devices, consumer electronics and supply chain tracking.
For example, certificates can be deployed during production or client-site installation for smart meters. This way, devices can be authenticated when “talking” to each other while also maintaining a secure connection for the traffic to traverse. Devices not configured with a certificate would not be able to penetrate or “attach” to the network, helping to protect the energy grid.
Verizon’s MCS platform also can help enterprises address regulatory guidelines aimed at protecting device-to-machine and machine-to-machine connections now found in automobiles, smart meters and home-monitoring systems.
“We are at the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the growth of the Internet of Things,” Denning said. “A lot of enterprises are asking about the best way to secure connected objects. Like any other device connected to the network, we are helping clients to develop the best safeguards depending on their specific implementation as well as their business and regulatory requirements.”
Verizon Offers Comprehensive Security Solutions to Safeguard Enterprises Verizon offers a full continuum of managed security solutions including advanced security analytics and intelligence; distributed denial of service defense; investigative response; governance, risk and compliance solutions; identity and access management solutions; and vulnerability management services — delivered in the cloud or on premises in more than 50 countries. Visit Verizon’s Security Solutions Center for more information on Verizon Managed Security Services.
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