Michael Moorfield, Director of Product, Truphone

The IoT is well and truly alive. But a few key factors are holding it back. Security is a primary concern. Another, is its reliance on Wi-Fi. As the hype around 5G turns subsides into caution, these two issues are increasingly intertwined.

5G or mobile connectivity in general is seen as both the tonic and the poison for IoT. As for the former, it frees the connected world from Wi-Fi—crucial for bringing the dreams of a connected world beyond the front gate and setting the stage for more widespread, more useful applications of the IoT.

The latter is equally understandable: solutions built on Wi-Fi provide a certain comfort level over their coverage and security, which is often misplaced. Wresting our devices away from our own routers and surrendering them to mass-scale, third party mobile network infrastructure may feel like we are relinquishing control. The reality is that the deployment of secure network infrastructure for use on a mass scale is of grave importance to every individual, business and government and therefore requires specialist skills and is ever more subject to intense scrutiny over its security. This same rigour and expertise is rarely applied to your router at home.

Even so, the IoT is built on a bedrock of data and, if that data is compromised, not only are customers put at risk, the reputation of the company holding it is damaged beyond repair. Consumers and businesses alike will hesitate to cede any level of control – however illusionary – over their IoT estate to mobile networks, unless they can be sure that the devices themselves can withstand potential attacks.

Synopsys and Truphone recognised this in 2018 and, in collaboration, reached the conclusion that for stronger security and more seamless mobile connectivity to be contradictory aims no longer, they must both be built into the very design of the device—right from the silicon up.

The partners have released a report detailing this breakthrough, which describes in detail the solutions required to end the impasse.

You can download the report here.