Secure IoT device-to-cloud authentication

Infineon Technologies just launched CIRRENT Cloud ID, an automated cloud certificate provisioning service offering secure IoT device-to-cloud authentication. It extends the chain of trust and makes tasks easier and more secure from chip-to-cloud – and also lowers companies’ total cost of ownership.

Cloud ID can be used for for cloud-connected product companies in the industrial, consumer, healthcare, medical and manufacturing industries.

IoT product companies have struggled for years to simplify manufacturing, security, and provisioning,

said Rob Conant, Vice President of Software and Ecosystem at Infineon.

Cloud ID builds on Infineon’s strong capability in embedded security, combined with the CIRRENT cloud services, to extend the chain of trust from the chip-to-the-cloud, addressing the manufacturing, security, and provisioning problems in a unique way. We’re helping our customers save money, time and staff while making no compromises on security.

Manufacturers of IoT devices often have to make tradeoffs between IT complexity and security. They either choose complex and expensive solutions involving the installation of hardware security modules (HSM) in their manufacturing lines and requiring secure IT processes – or simpler solutions that are easier and less expensive to implement but have substantial security flaws. Infineon’s Cloud ID wants to break that paradigm by providing cryptographic security with a cloud-based certificate delivery mechanism and simplifying manufacturing processes.
Among the advantages of Cloud ID are:

• Simpler manufacturing processes, that maintain the capability to have individual certificates without complex IT systems and processes
• Asymmetric key security
• Automatic provisioning to the cloud
• Ability to monitor, track, and audit registration and provisioning
• Low cost of ownership by replacing NRE and operational costs of an HSM.

Cloud ID can be set up quickly and easily. Users create a free CIRRENT account and configure cloud-to-cloud connection between the CIRRENT Cloud ID Service and their Product Cloud. A Cloud ID compatible batch of chips are delivered to the manufacturing location, where a technician registers them using a smartphone. The X.509 certificates are automatically provisioned to the product cloud. Users can log into the CIRRENT console to download their certificates, audit and track registrations and provisioning.

Author: Rainer Claaßen
Image Credit: Infineon