Cloudflare introduces Orbit to secure the private networks for IoT devices

Key takeaways

Increasing connectivity among devices has led to heightened security vulnerabilities in the Internet of Things.

Cloudflare has launched Orbit, a service designed to protect networks and devices from digital attacks.

Orbit provides security even for devices that are past their operating system's expiration date.

Cloudflare aims to establish best practices and standards for the security of IoT devices.

With the ever increasing connectivity between the devices, there has been an evident increase in the security issues around the so-called Internet of Things. As the devices such as fridge, washing machine, fitness tracker, sleep monitors or even a piece of jewellery is becoming connected, there has been instances where the entire system has become vulnerable to attacks. To address these needs, Cloudflare, the web performance and security company launched a new service aiming at protecting the networks and website from digital attacks. The device called Orbit, would keep the hackers off a range of connected devices, hence securing sophisticated industrial equipment and of home appliances. The company is working on creating a security organization that would form best practices and standards to protect IoT devices, that are often considered highly vulnerable. “Orbit sits one layer before the device and provides a shield of security, so even if the device is running past its operating system’s expiration date, Cloudflare protects it from exploits”, said Cloudflare in its blogpost. It further stated that Cloudflare is shipping code everyday, adding new firewall rules to Cloudflare’s edge. It will allow the devices to access the internet but only after passing through Cloudflare where malicious requests can be filtered. The company has been working with a number of IoT vendors to develop Orbit and there are already more than 120 million IoT devices that are safer using Cloudflare’s network. “Keeping our products and customers secure is our primary concern. Cloudflare provides an extra layer of security that allows us to keep our devices continually updated and ahead of any vulnerabilities”, said Paul Gerhardt, co-founder of Lockitron, which is one of the companies using Cloudflare. Along with providing security, Cloudflare can compress the transmitted data and speed up the traffic. We have earlier witnessed security perils in the internet world when MongoDB databases were hijacked for ransom. In this incidence, more than 28,000 accounts were hijacked, with a ransom note demanding around $150 to $500. Another instance which shocked the industry was when IoT botnet started crippling the internet, raising questions about cyber security.

Cloudflare introduces Orbit to secure the private networks for IoT devices

Key takeaways

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