How to Secure Supply Chain of IoT Devices

As the deployment of IoT devices is increasing for day-to-day usage and critical infrastructure, it is essential to have security processes in place to secure IoT devices in the field.

This process involves implementing robust strategies and practices to safeguard devices at every stage of their lifecycle—from manufacturing and assembly to distribution and deployment.

This blog lists 8 security requirements that help in securing the supply chain of IoT Devices.

Requirements to Secure Supply Chain of IoT Devices

1) Software Bill of Material

As IoT devices are deployed in the field, it is essential to have a Software Bill of Material (SBOM) for each application used in IoT devices. It provides a detailed list of all software elements, including their versions, origins, and dependencies, akin to an ingredients list for software.

The SBOM mainly has details of three components as follows:

• Third-party components
• Versioning
• Published vulnerabilities

2) Risk Assessment of the IoT device

Risk Assessment is the activity to identify associated risks associated with components of the device.

Components of IoT devices include third-party and open-source software. Generally, inherent risks are there in the components.

Risk Assessment is the activity that helps in mitigation of identified risk in the device.

3) Regular Updates

Ensure all the components such as SDKs, hardware drivers, modules of 5G, LTE, ZigBee, BLE, etc. are patched with regular updates. These updates include security patches, bug fixes, and feature enhancements, addressing vulnerabilities, ensuring optimal performance, and protecting devices against emerging threats, ultimately enhancing device resilience and longevity.

4) Code Review Activity

Code Review activity of all the components used in the IoT device helps in identifying hidden backdoors and malicious programs not available in the device.

This activity ensures code correctness, identifies bugs, enhances security, and promotes best practices, contributing to reliable, efficient, and secure IoT device software.

5) Hardware Root of Trust

The Hardware Root of Trust helps the device to be immune from malware attacks. Proper implementation of a hardware root of trust ensures the enablement of a secure boot process.

Ensure the device has an enabled Hardware Root of Trust to enable hardware security features.

6) Code Integrity Protection Mechanism

To avoid the temper of IoT devices from sophisticated hackers, it is essential to have a code integrity protection mechanism enabled before shipping of device to the customer.

These measures, such as code signing, checksums, and digital signatures, verify code authenticity and detect unauthorized modifications, safeguarding against tampering, and malware insertion, and ensuring only authorized, unaltered code runs on devices.

7) Debug Capabilities in the Production Environment

Ensure that debug capabilities in the Field Programming Gate Array (FPGA) are disabled on production PCBs. Debug capabilities in IoT production involve secure remote access, robust logging, OTA updates, and telemetry. These tools aid in diagnosing issues without physical access, ensuring minimal disruption and secure troubleshooting.

8) Disable Debug Interfaces

Hardware Debug Interfaces such as JTAG, SWD, UART, etc. should be defaulted in the beginning and managed by a security professional. This entails deactivating JTAG ports, securing physical access, and implementing controls to prevent unauthorized usage, fortifying device security in the operational phase.

Conclusion

Making IoT devices secure involves checking suppliers, making sure the code is safe, and keeping an eye on things even after they're made. We also need to turn off ways people could secretly access devices and make sure the code stays safe from bad changes. These steps help keep IoT gadgets safe and reliable.