Security of IoT and connected devices.

Two recent announcements have focused attention on the security of IoT and connected devices, running versions of Wind Rivers’ VxWorks, the most popular embedded operating system used in the world. These announcements describe flaws that can be exploited by remote cyber attackers. In June 2015, and updated in July 2015, the Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team (ICS-CERT) issued an advisory regarding Wind River VxWorks TCP Predictability Vulnerability for Industrial Control Systems.  Researches also discovered a remote code execution (RCE) vulnerability in VxWorks.

According to Wind River, VxWorks Version 7 is not susceptible to the RCE vulnerability and there are patches for some older versions of VxWorks. However, there may be millions more devices running older versions of VxWorks that may be vulnerable.

Alan Grau, President of Icon Labs said, “Our Floodgate Security Framework, for use with VxWorks and many other RTOSs, can block attacks attempting to exploit these vulnerabilities. In addition, our strategy of connection to a management system, such as Intel Security’s ePolicy Orchestrator, can notify customers of attacks and allow the customer to "instantly" change the security policies to block these attacks.  Developers can design in security today, and prepare for new attacks in the future by using this flexible approach.”

Icon Labs’ products provide embedded security for IoT and Machine to Machine (M2M) solutions such as aerospace, military and space probes, industrial and medical control devices, medical systems, and consumer electronics products. The Floodgate Security Framework provides a “defense in depth” solution that protects control units and endpoint devices from cyber threats, aids in compliance with regulatory mandates and guidelines, and gathers and reports command, event and device status information for audit requirements.