Certified Security Solutions (CSS): Creating a Reliable and Hackproof IoT Ecosystem

Across industry verticals, a rapid growth of the Internet of Things (IoT) adoption is being witnessed, primarily driven by increased IPv6 scalability and reduced connectivity, sensors, and bandwidth costs. Security, however— despite its importance—is often left out of discussions until the very end or after a breach occurs. As many IoT devices are expected to have a lifespan of 15–20 years and may be incapable of receiving automated updates or patches like other electronic devices, it poses unique challenges for security solution providers. The lack of standardized security protocols adds to the problem. “These, in addition to the growing number of automobile and medical device hacking incidents, are making organizations take a step back in terms of their IoT implementations,” says Ted Shorter, CTO of Certified Security Solutions (CSS).

Based in Cleveland, OH—CSS focuses on enabling companies to authenticate devices, encrypt data and sign data within a client’s IoT network stack. CSS was initially an Information Security services company focused on securing IT infrastructures of Fortune 500 companies. The firm gradually rolled out its enterprise Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) managed services to remove the challenges of having a dedicated in-house PKI for internal enterprise applications. “We see identity as a fundamental piece of the security puzzle. We help companies use digital certificates to validate the connections between devices to verify that the information generated is legitimate,” says Shorter, highlighting the inadequacies of usernames and passwords, as well as other identity authentication methods in the IoT arena due to their inherent problems.

In conjunction with their PKI professional and managed services, CSS has a Certificate Management System (CMS) software, which works as the powerhouse backend to their managed services. Clients also can use CMS as standalone software to prevent outages and breaches by efficiently and effectively managing the issuance and expiration of large scale of digital certificates across websites, enterprise systems and IoT.