Renowned security expert Window Snyder, whose experience includes helping companies such as Apple, Microsoft, and Mozilla bolster the security of their products, is betting she can do the same thing for Internet of Things (IoT) device manufacturers.
Crucial Capabilities
Snyder says the technology is crucial because embedded devices are like fully functional computers that face the same kind of threats that operating systems and applications software do but often don’t have basic security mechanisms for protecting against them.
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“What we are trying to do is democratize security,” says Snyder, who launched Thistle in early 2021 after a stint as chief security officer at financial technology company Square. The goal is to give IoT and embedded-device makers an infrastructure for quickly adding security functions to their devices without needing to develop it themselves. “These devices have all the same type of threats that general-purpose operating systems have but with a lot less security,” she says.
Thistle’s set of security tools and services include an update component, a memory allocator, and an integrated memory-safe Transport Layer Security (TLS) stack for secure communications.
The update client, for Linux and Windows-based devices, enables IoT manufacturers to securely deliver signed updates to their device fleet from a single, central location. The updates could include new device features, security functions, and vulnerability fixes.
SOURCE: DARKReading