Reliable and secure firmware update with a dynamic validation for internet of things (IoT) devices

#With the growing number of deployed IoT devices, the importance of secure firmware updating is significantly increased. Gartner, Inc. forecasts that 6.4 billion connected things will be in use worldwide in 2016, up 30 percent from 2015, and will reach 20.8 billion by 2020. In 2016, 5.5 million new things will get connected every day.

#All these devices need a reliable firmware update system. The functions of many IoT devices, expected to be operational typically at all times, requires a minimal downtime for service tasks, including firmware update. A typical IoT device is also expected to be operational for a long time and may warrant or require many updates over its life. A consumer of an IoT solution needs to be able to receive and have firmware updates implemented for IoT devices to fix security vulnerabilities and firmware errors or add new features. Another important factor is time, especially in case of firmware update error or failure for any reason. The ability to apply a security patch to a large number of devices as fast as possible is critical to prevent and/or reduce damage from error or breach, especially from zero day attacks unlikely to be thwarted by existing security.

#The firmware update method and process should be simple and should provide an easy way to roll back to the previous version if for any reason the update is ineffective.

#FIG. 1 illustrates an IoT Execution Environments Model in which one or more embodiments of reliable and secure firmware update with a dynamic validation for IoT Devices can be employed.

#FIG. 2 illustrates the execution environment model during the firmware update process.

#FIG. 3 illustrates TEE Execution Flow of the firmware update process.

#Preferred embodiments of the present invention require a hardware-enforced Trusted Execution Environment (TEE). The present invention provides an innovative approach of using SoC Security Extensions to isolate and the protect firmware update system for an IoT device.

#Preferred embodiments of the present invention do not put any restrictions on methods of delivery of the firmware updates to a device and can be used with a number of different approaches, including user-provided updates or updates automatically downloaded from the Internet or other networks.

#As will be apparent to one having ordinary skill in the art, the present invention is focused on providing a secure and reliable firmware lifecycle management for an IoT device, including firmware update package verification, firmware update with post-update validation, continuous monitoring (health check) and recovery.