Arm, lab partners launch security certification for IoT devices – Technologist

British semiconductor and software design company Arm has launched a security certification for internet of things (IoT) devices with its security testing lab partners.

Security lab Brightsight, the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT), Paris-based software company Prove&Run, global IoT advisor Riscure, and security solutions provider UL have worked with Arm in developing PSA Certified.

The partners said PSA Certified enables IoT solution developers and device makers to establish the security and authenticity of the data collected from a diverse world of IoT devices.

Paul Williamson, vice president and general manager, Emerging Businesses Group, Arm, said the certification will enable trust in individual devices, in their data, and in the deployment of these devices at scale in IoT services.

“PSA gave the industry a framework for standardizing the design of secure IoT devices, and PSA Certified brings together the leading global independent security testing labs to evaluate the implementation of these principles,” he said.

According to Arm, PSA Certified  comprises two elements: a multi-level security robustness scheme and a developer focused API test suite.

“The security testing is based on third-party lab-based evaluation that builds trust through independent checking of the generic parts of an IoT platform, including PSA Root of Trust (the Root of Trust is the source of integrity and confidentiality), the real-time operating system (RTOS) and the device itself,” it explained.

As part of the program, the PSA Functional API Certification enables standardized access to essential security services, making it easier to build secure applications.

Free test suites have been published for chip vendors, RTOS providers and device makers to test their PSA APIs and harness the hardware security of the latest silicon platforms.

“We should expect that anything connected to the internet could be hacked eventually, and to implement security in a trusted manner, independent testing is crucial,” said CAICT’s Vicky Guo.

“CAICT is committed to working closely with partners such as Arm to build a secure IoT ecosystem, and PSA Certified is an important step towards that, enabling customers to achieve the security they need for their specific use case.”