MITRE Corporation has launched a competition with the goal of finding new solutions to rising security and privacy risks regarding the Internet of things (IoT) devices. When people connect their devices to the web, they create a gate susceptible to cyber attacks.
Experts believe the IoT will consist of nearly 50 billion devices by 2020. The interconnection of these devices embedded with sensors and actuators will usher new technologies like smart homes, smart hospitals, intelligent transportation, smart cities, and other IoT networks.
Participants of Unique Identification of IoT Devices Challenge will have to come up with a unique identifier or fingerprint that allows administrators to observe their systems and deal with possible threats.
MITRE is looking for non-traditional methods to identify and monitor IoT devices without the need to modify the products already in use. Through the winner’s game-changing solution, manufacturers will be able to embed unique digital signatures into every device for identification and monitoring purposes.
Why should people participate in the MITRE IoT Challenge?
The winner or winning team of MITRE’s Unique Identification of IoT Devices Challenge will receive as much as $50,000. Additionally, all intellectual property (IP) created by the inventor will remain his.
Recognition and promotion aside, the winner will also have the opportunity to work with government agencies searching for IoT solutions. To better understand their needs, he will collaborate with MITRE experts.
The Challenge is open to entrepreneurs and college teams as well as big and small companies. MITRE is looking for a straightforward and affordable solution to identify rogue IoT devices.
MITRE has built a model home network to test each participant’s identification technique. The home system features a host of devices with different operating characteristics, and such techniques will have to tell whether they are dangerous.
How to join the MITRE IoT Challenge?
The registration site opened in September and will close this month. Required fields include a team name and contact information. Following the registration process, the MITRE IoT team will send partakers recordings of their home environment which contain a broad range of interconnected devices.
They will have to answer a series of questions about the network that include identifying the devices on it. The systems will suffer modifications along the way, and participants will have to recognize those changes.
The MITRE IoT Challenge will begin in early November and end in December after approximately six weeks. MITRE will announce the winner before the end of December. The number of correct answers as well as how quickly participants respond to them will determine the winner or winning team.