Research and Standardization Challenges in Security and Privacy for the IoT: Outcomes of Huawei’s 2nd Security Advisory Board Workshop

[Paris, France, Sept 8, 2015] Huawei recently gathered its external Security Advisory Board (SAB) members and internal security experts for the 2nd SAB Workshop, held at Huawei's French Research Center, which opened its doors just last year. The workshop enabled discussion and investigation of research and standardization challenges in security and privacy for the Internet of Things (IoT). The SAB members were handpicked from seven internationally leading universities (including ENS, ETH Zurich, and the University of Birmingham) to provide strategic advice and technical guidance on security and privacy, and they provided a significant contribution to the workshop.

The Internet of Things envisages connecting every electronic device and anticipates the emergence of new technologies that utilize the massive data produced by these devices. The ubiquity of devices will ultimately lead to the emergence of new security threats and attacks. And security and privacy for IoT will protect users, data and devices against these threats and attacks. The workshop initiated discussion between Huawei's internal security experts and external SAB members, and made some initial progress towards securing the IoT.

During the workshop, Huawei shared its vision to establish secure and open IoT platforms, with foundations in identity management and trust establishment. Identity management enables the identification of things (that is, users and devices) and defines controls on data access; trust establishment enables things to develop and maintain relationships.

Dr. Feng BAO, director of Huawei's Shield Lab, explained that "the IoT market is estimated at 50 billion devices or $7 trillion in revenues, during the next five years" and that "Huawei is committed to the development of a secure IoT ecosystem and we are working with internationally-leading experts, including our SAB members, to deliver upon our commitment." And he elaborated that "Huawei are working with industrial leaders to standardize security for the IoT."

SAB workshops are co-organized by Shield Lab and the Security Competence Center. Both departments are dedicated to ensuring the security for Huawei's next generation of products, through extensive research.

The workshop also touched upon research and standardization challenges in cloud and telephony security, and concluded with an agreement, between Huawei and its SAB members, for continued collaboration to develop systematic security solutions to the most challenging problems in security and privacy for the Internet of Things.