Every device, no matter how small or large, has a power signature. Variation in the power signature can be used to potentially identify security risks and attacks, thanks to technology from PFP Cybersecurity.
PFP is now shifting to a software strategy that enables its partners to make use of the company’s power analysis technology to detect potential threats. In a video interview with eWEEK, Steven Chen, founder and CEO of PFP, discusses how his company has evolved over the past year and why power analysis could well be the lynchpin for securing embedded Internet of things (IoT) devices.
“We don’t just detect [threats]; we also help to remediate,” Chen said.
Remediation in IoT isn’t quite the same as it is in other areas of computing where patches are commonplace. PFP has a micro-policy engine that can enable an organization to revert the software running on hardware back to a known good state.
From a go-to-market perspective, PFP works with silicon vendors providing them with software development kits to enable the power analysis. Chen noted that PFP is also working with original device manufacturers to help enable power analysis of security threat detection.
Network security can only go so far, and there are plenty of incidents where an insider threat is responsible for an attack, Chen said. PFP’s technology cannot prevent attacks from occurring; however, PFP and power analysis will see attacks in progress, he added.
“What we want to do is enable IoT to detect when the threat reaches the device,” Chen said.
Watch the full video interview with Steven Chen below:
Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at eWEEK and InternetNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @TechJournalist.