Opt for EJBCA PKI over OpenSSL and self-signed certificates when prototyping your IoT solution for enhanced long-term scalability and security.
Challenge
To ensure cybersecurity in IoT solutions, edge devices, gateways, and servers must be capable of establishing mutual trust as well as trust in the firmware and software they execute.
This can only be achieved by equipping each system with at least a unique and secure digital identity. This identity must be small enough to be hosted inside a limited memory, strong enough to comply with the latest cybersecurity standards, and easy to check so that even small devices can verify who they are talking to and whether their firmware is genuine.
It must also be issued and managed securely so that every owner and use case can draw their private circle of trust and decide who can enter or intersect with it. The widely accepted technology for this is public key infrastructure (PKI) and the digital identities are digital certificates following the X.509 standard.
For developers crafting connected devices or cybersecurity experts overseeing their deployment and operational security, integrating trusted digital identities is indispensable to shield against potential cyber threats. Modern industry standards and recommendations also call for PKI and X.509 certificates to secure and authenticate communication, software, and supply chains for IoT. Examples of such standards and recommendations are:
Solution
While free certificate issuance tools like Open SSL and self-signed certificates may be convenient for software development and test purposes, they are not recommended for production. Ensuring a smooth and secure transition to the next development phase is important. Using EJBCA's Community edition or our free Enterprise trials, you can establish the necessary private circles of trust while testing and prototyping.
By following our step-by-step guides and watching our instructional videos, you can easily establish a PKI that enables you to generate certificates for your industrial infrastructure and IoT devices. Once you have set up your PKI, you can customize it to meet your specific requirements. You will have a fully operational PKI for your test devices, complete with Certificate Authorities, roles, certificate profiles, a configured use case/issuing protocol, and revocation support.
Get started with video tutorials and how-tos:
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