Microsoft has devised and launched a specialist security program for its Azure cloud platform, a decision which can help protect the dozen certified IoT appliances.
Microsoft vows to defend the Azure IoT Services
Microsoft launched a security program for its Azure cloud platform which will help its corporate customers to better strengthen their security mechanisms against IoT specific attacks.
According to the detailed press release the program was designed as a response to customer requests for increased security measures in the deployment and production of the various Iot devices that run on the platform.
The company partners with security auditors to evaluate the IoT infrastructure of Azure’s customers, detect any security vulnerabilities and to provide recommendations on how the infrastructure and security measures can be improved. The customers can choose an approved auditor which can conduct the necessary examinations – device verification, assets, gateways and communications systems.
Program partners include Praetorian, Casaba Security, CyberX, and Tech Mahindra, more companies will be added in the future as the program continues to grow. Microsoft will also work with organizations such as the Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC) to create industry protocols and good practices for security audits.
Praetorian will review the installed IoT solutions of the customer and carefully asses the security measures that they employ.
Microsoft Azure Certified IoT Catalog
The program has created a specialist portal that displays Microsoft Azure Certified for IoT device catalog. It gives the users the ability to perform advanced searches by entering advanced filtering options such as specific industry segment, compatibility, operating system, programming language support and others. The users can contact the vendors and manufacturers and get help for connecting them to the Azure platform. More than 100 IoT hardware vendors partner with Microsoft on showcasing their devices.
For A More Secure Azure IoT
The Microsoft Azure IoT Suite offers multiple Azure services with custom extensions as preconfigured solutions for business users. They provide ready made base implementations of common IoT solutions that reduce delivery time. Business users can use IoT software development kits (SDKs) to customize and extend the solutions to meet their requirements.
In essence this means that Microsoft are offering a very capable platform that allows for IoT deployment. The new security measures showcase that the company is actively investing in security. However we would still like to mention the fact that most business owners and individual users who operate IoT equipment still face serious challenges when setting up their infrastructure in a secure and safe manner.
For more information you can read our comprehensive guide.
