Digital security company Thales and Tata Communications announced Friday that the two vendors are working together to develop a secure global IoT connectivity solution. Tata Communications MOVE mobility and IoT platform and Thales’s T-Sure warranted digital identity offering is set to unlock the value in data generated by connected devices such as cars and trucks, whilst maintaining the integrity and security of IoT data.
Thales will provide its T-sure warranted digital identity solution to Tata Communications MOVE SIM cards, based on technologies from Gemalto, a Thales company. While Tata Communications MOVE encrypts the data in motion (in current use), T-Sure protects the information at rest (archived) on the SIM, therefore safeguarding data both on the network and at the device level. The two companies look to undertake a series of proof-of-concepts with customers to test this solution in action.
The Tata Communications MOVE platform is part of the company’s aim of creating a truly borderless mobile experiences for people and things, and facilitating its customers and partners’ growth in the global IoT market. It is underpinned by Tata Communications’ global network, which connects four out of five mobile subscribers and carries around 30 percent of the world’s internet routes.
Thales’s T-Sure is a warranted digital identity solution, which leverages the company’s experience in developing and delivering trusted systems in complex, safety-critical environments.
The need to protect IoT data is a major concern for the automotive industry, due to advancements in connected cars and autonomous vehicles coupled with the continued threat of cyber-attacks. The Thales and Tata Communications’ solution aims to secure the data that vehicles carry and provide control over data and applications, whilst keeping hackers and cyber-criminals at bay.
Reliable communications from vehicles to infrastructure (V2I) and from vehicle to vehicle (V2V) will help unlock the value in data generated by vehicles in applications such as driving pattern analytics, emergency services or preventive maintenance.
In Tata Communications’ global Cycle of Progress survey, 30 percent of IT decision makers cited security and 25 percent cited privacy issues as the biggest barriers to IoT adoption. The combined capabilities of Tata Communications and Thales aims to lower these barriers and enable businesses and manufacturers to make the most of the transformational potential of IoT by giving them peace of mind that their critical IoT data is protected against cyber-attacks.
Thus, the manufacturer will be able to gather data through the SIM to ensure a vehicle is operating safely, the dealership can use the SIM for keeping track of the maintenance logs, and the vehicle car owner can trust that his or her private information stays private.
The solution aims to allow for multiple secure ‘vaults’ within the vehicle to which only the vault owner has access. This means that the manufacturer, dealership and vehicle owner will each have their own private, secure space to store information, run applications and establish communications, and the security of these vaults would be enabled and managed via the Tata Communications MOVE platform.
“The only thing that will allow IoT to fulfil its potential and bring about innovations like autonomous vehicles is totally trusted and secure data connectivity,” said Gareth Williams, vice president, Secure Communications & Information Systems, Thales. “The marriage of Tata Communications’ expertise in the connected automotive sector with Thales’s leadership position in IoT and data security, reinforced by the integration of Gemalto, is driving an offering that will give end users complete trust in the integrity of their data whilst opening up new business opportunities for manufacturers.”
“IoT could transform how businesses operate and how people engage with one another and with every ‘thing.’ Protecting data against cyber-attacks both at the device and network level is crucial to accelerate IoT adoption worldwide,” said Anthony Bartolo, Chief Product Officer, Tata Communications. “Combining Tata Communications MOVE with Thales’ T-Sure solution helps businesses adopt IoT with confidence, and takes us closer to fulfilling our vision for a world where anything can be born connected – and born secure.”
