Identity is a key consideration when it comes to securing the smart building .
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Identity crisis
Simon Moffatt at ForgeRock explains how identity can make a smart building truly smart .
Identity is a key consideration when it comes to securing the smart building .
A glance across London ’ s city skyline will quickly tell you that the ‘ smart ’ building is not a new concept . Take the Gherkin , built in 2003 and recognised as one of the most distinctive skyscrapers in the fi nancial district of London . That distinctive shape is key to its renowned energy effi ciency and smart use of natural lighting .
Like many of its newer neighbours , the Gherkin ’ s intelligent construction is now being replicated in its use of technology . For example , the skyscraper has a number of sensors that monitor the weather , open and close blinds and automatically adjust internal air temperature . This combination of smart design and use of technology is allegedly helping it to consume only half the energy of a similar sized building .
The concept of smart buildings
is a very real initiative that companies all over the world are embracing . When the initial wave of smart building implementation began rolling out a few years ago , the core focus was , understandably , on connectivity and efficiency , to help cut costs . Most technologically smart buildings now also use the IoT , a network of Internet connected devices and sensors that make a building ‘ smart ’. But there is a big problem with these socalled connected devices ; in most cases , they are actually unable to communicate with each other because they lack individual digital identities .
As a human , our identity is what makes us unique and tells others who we are . Without it , we ’ d be anonymous . The same concept applies to the IoT . With an estimated 25 billion connected things by 2025 , we are facing something of an identity crisis ! Without a unique identifier or an association to a person , objects are unable to communicate and therefore unable to provide context to the information that they generate or are exposed to .
Identity is also a key consideration when it comes to securing the smart building . When considered on a citywide scale , the security implications of the IoT are signifi cant . Imagine if a hacker was able to compromise every connected device within a one mile radius of a city ’ s fi nancial district . They could control everything from electricity and ventilation to CCTV and building access systems . Not only might this cost the individual businesses money from a productivity perspective , depending on the devices that the hackers gained access to , it could also put citizens in danger .
Fortunately , the rise of digital identity management technologies means that connected devices and users can now be assigned their own digital identity . This means that they can now securely recognise and even interact with other identities to establish relationships between users , between users and connected things , and between the things themselves . Companies can then use real time data and situational context to personalise individual interactions with the IoT and better understand how these objects are being used .
From a security perspective , it is equally important that every connected device within the IoT be it a car , a street lamp or a weather sensor , has a validated identity and is correctly attached to the network . If a device can be identified , it is that much easier to confirm that the data it is generating is genuine and can be trusted . Importantly , it also means that if the device is being made to do something that it is not permitted to do , this can be identified and prevented , before it does any damage .