Mcafee Defines Strategy For Securing The Internet Of Things

SANTA CLARA, Calif. / SINGAPORE — April 10^th 2014 – McAfee, part of Intel Security, today outlined its strategy for enabling the secure Internet of Things. Utilizing McAfee’s history of securing the most demanding digital environments, McAfee is building and delivering future-focused security solutions that are essential to unleashing the transformative power of a world in which every device is connected.

Companies of all sizes are linking objects as diverse as smartphones, cars and household appliances to industrial sensors. The installed base of the Internet of Things will be approximately 212 billion "things" globally by the end of 2020, according to IDC[1]. This equates to approximately 27 things for every person on Earth that will need to be secured and managed.  McAfee’s objective is to maintain the trust of these devices while allowing them to perform as intended but with a richer experience.

While this connectivity brings convenience and opens a world of opportunities it also creates unprecedented security challenges in data privacy, safety, governance and trust.  McAfee is addressing these challenges by providing long-term assured functionality and other core security capabilities for the vast array of current and future IoT use cases. To effectively secure these IP connected devices requires that security be designed in and not an afterthought.  A comprehensive IoT strategy includes:

• A secure and holistic solution for information rich environments across multiple environments and devices
  
• Assurance that devices are operating as intended by the manufacturer and have not been corrupted
  
• Life cycle security across the device, network, and data center
  
• Support for industry standards and device interoperability
  
• Ability to solve Information Technology/Cloud services challenges in connecting legacy and new systems to new and future services
  
• Provide technology to assure individual privacy
  

Drawing from its 20 plus year history in IT security, McAfee is applying this knowledge and expertise to the evolving IoT market.  McAfee is working closely with the broader Intel and Wind River companies to provide security solutions to ensure connected devices, systems, applications, and data are protected, freeing companies to concentrate on their business. Last week, Intel introduced the Intel Gateway Solutions for IoT, a family of platforms based on Intel® Quark™ and Atom™ processors, as well as McAfee and Wind River software that enables companies to seamlessly interconnect industrial devices into an IoT-ready system of systems.  Additionally McAfee has over 400 OEM partners across the Industrial, Retail and Healthcare verticals.  

“McAfee has both the breadth and the depth of security offerings needed to support the complexity and massive scale of the Internet of Things,” said Steve Hoffenberg, Director of M2M Embedded Software & Tools at VDC Research.  “With the company’s strong collaborations with Intel and Wind River, as well as its long history of securing information technology, McAfee is well positioned to proactively address the security needs of the IoT.”

McAfee is focused on addressing security challenges specific to the Internet of Things, including expanded requirements for trust, solution integrity, accountability and privacy.  These solutions must deliver interoperable security which establishes appropriate and effective protection as every layer including the device connection and the cloud. 

“Security needs to be built in as the foundation of the Internet of Things,” said Michael Fey, worldwide chief technology officer for Intel Security.  “Any disruption to these IP connected devices can cause damage to the business and our daily lives. We need to have foresight into what is coming so we can prevent against threats and securely manage these devices. McAfee is enabling the future and the possibilities that the Internet of Things brings to our daily lives.”

To learn more about what McAfee is doing to enable a secure Internet of Things, visit www.mcafee.com/embedded.

[1] IDC: Worldwide Internet of Things (IoT) 2013–2020 Forecast: Billions of Things, Trillions of Dollars (IDC #243397)