In order to secure Consumer Internet of Things (IoT) devices, Telecommunication Engineering Centre(TEC), under Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications, has released a report “Code of Practice for Securing Consumer Internet of Things(IoT)” as a baseline requirement aligned with global standards and best practices. These guidelines will help in securing consumer IoT devices & ecosystem as well as managing vulnerabilities. This report is intended for use by IoT device manufacturers, Service providers/ system integrators and application developers etc.
Internet of Things (IoT) is one of the fastest emerging technology across the globe, providing enormous beneficial opportunities for society, industry, and consumers. It is being used to create smart infrastructure in various verticals such as Power, Automotive, Safety & Surveillance, Remote Health Management, Agriculture, Smart Homes and Smart Cities etc, using connected devices. IoT is benefitted by recent advances in several technologies such as sensors, communication technologies (Cellular and non-cellular), AI/ ML, Cloud / Edge computing etc.
As per the projections, there may be 26.4 billion IoT devices in service globally by 2026. Out of this approximately 20% will be on cellular technologies. Ratio of Consumer and Enterprise IoT devices may be 45% : 55%.
As per the National Digital Communication Policy (NDCP) 2018 released by Department of Telecommunications (DoT), an eco-system is to be created for 5 billion connected devices by 2022. Therefore, it is expected that around 60% of 5 billion i.e. 3 billion connected devices may exist in India by 2022.
In view of the anticipated growth of IoT devices, it is important to ensure that the IoT end points comply to the safety and security standards and guidelines in order to protect the users and the networks that connect these IoT devices. The hacking of the devices/networks being used in daily life would harm companies, organisations, nations and more importantly people, therefore securing the IoT eco-system end-to-end i.e. from devices to the applications is very important.
Telecommunication Engineering Centre(TEC) under Department of Telecommunications, is working in IoT domain with multi stakeholders participation and released sixteen Technical Reports (https://tec.gov.in/M2M-IoT-technical-reports).