Security and More
Security is a critical aspect of provisioning. It is at this stage that credentials are first established to setup secure communication channels, ensure proper authentication and encryption mechanisms, and configure the access-control policies needed to protect the device and data against unauthorised access or tampering.
Only when properly provisioned are IoT devices ready to fulfil their intended functions. By eliminating manual configuration errors and reducing deployment time, provisioning ensures fast and efficient device onboarding. Moreover, by establishing secure communication channels for devices to authenticate and communicate securely, proper provisioning protects sensitive data from unauthorised access or interception.
In addition, provisioning helps manage and track devices effectively throughout their lifecycle, enabling centralised control, updates, and maintenance, simplifying operations and ensuring devices remain up-to-date and compliant.
Secure-Processing Workloads
If the device is designed to connect to the network using a technology such as Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Cellular or Bluetooth, the protocol stack includes standardised security features although the host system must also take responsibility for protecting communications and data. If this is the case, the host system must provide enough processing power to handle security as well as the main application. Some processors, as well as some microcontrollers, utilise a security-conscious architecture such as Arm TrustZone that separates secure and non-secure execution environments. There may also be dedicated hardware on-chip, such as cryptographic accelerators that increase performance as well as offloading the computationally intensive algorithms from the main processor. Alternatively, cryptographic accelerators may be integrated in a separate device such as an embedded secure element (eSE) used to securely store secret data such as cryptographic keys.
Generally, once provisioning is complete, an IoT device is ready to fulfil its role in the system. Properly provisioned devices can seamlessly integrate with other devices, gateways, or platforms, enabling collaborative processes and interoperability within the IoT ecosystem.
Delegated Device Provisioning
When manufacturing devices OEMs have various choices for handling the provisioning aspect.
One option is to ask the manufacturing partner to take care of this aspect directly on the assembly line. However, provisioning is a sensitive step and this option requires extra care to ensure the assembly line is secure.
Another choice is to delegate this step to a trusted entity like Avnet Silica, which has Secure Programming and Provisioning Centres already set up to ship pre-programmed and pre-provisioned components. With this approach, there is no need to establish and maintain trust in manufacturing partners’ assembly lines. As an added benefit, provisioning output files can be generated as part of the process. This can make life easier for the OEM when registering new devices with the target cloud infrastructure, such as AWS IoT, Microsoft Azure IoT or Avnet IoTConnect.
Conclusion
IoT device provisioning plays a crucial role in the seamless integration, secure communication, and efficient management of IoT devices. It enables devices to perform their intended functions, collect and transmit data, and participate in collaborative processes within the broader IoT infrastructure. It is a potentially complex procedure that can be simplified by leveraging approaches such as Avnet Silica’s Secure Programming and Provisioning Centres, which ease device onboarding and facilitate scaling.
