Security threats of embedded systems in IoT environment

Abstract

The Internet of things (IoT) technology has reached great heights with the integration of efficient networking strategies, application protocols and VLSI. With the unlimited number of devices connected to the IoT, security has become a major concern. Mainly security is ensured by network and application protocols. But with rising threats, there is a need to lay emphasis on security from a hardware design point of view. Smart devices such as sensors and actuators are connected at the node of IoT and work on an embedded processing platform. Hence, embedded processors become an integral constituent of an IoT network. Selection of processors and identification of critical modules in the processor architecture play a key role in developing a secure design. Memory design will play a pivotal role in embedded system security. Memory attack accounts for loss or alteration of information which can impair the growth of IoT. This paper attempts to highlight security from a hardware perspective along with the potential threats likely to affect the critical modules.