Microsoft this week announced a new set of tools to help secure Internet of Things projects within corporate environments.
The first of these is Azure Security Center for IoT, which should provide customers with the ability to easily implement security best practices and mitigate threats across IoT projects.
The tool should help find missing security configurations across IoT devices, the edge and cloud, check for open ports on IoT devices, confirm that SQL databases are encrypted, and immediately attempt to remediate any issues.
Azure Security Center for IoT, Microsoft says, leverages the threat intelligence information in the Microsoft Intelligent Security Graph, which provides manufacturers with a single view of security across all their Azure solutions.
The software company also introduced Azure Sentinel, a cloud-native security information and event management (SIEM) offering that aims to protect entire enterprises from threats, including those targeting IoT.
Azure Sentinel enables customers to hunt for or respond to active threats within their enterprise, ranging from IoT devices to Azure to Office 365 and on-premise systems.
Integrating with Azure Security Center for IoT, Microsoft’s Azure IOT Hub aims to provide IoT security information directly inside the hub portal experience.
To provide manufacturers with a digital twin of their machines and enhance security and certification management, Microsoft introduced OPC Twin and OPC Vault. Meant to provide simplicity and security for industrial IoT solutions, the tools are available in open source.
OPC Twin, which Microsoft will be showcasing at Hannover Messe next week, is integrated with the Connected Factory solution accelerator, which should simplify the process of installing IoT Edge, the company says.
Microsoft will also showcase its progress in security with OPC Vault, which was designed to automate security management by creating, managing and revoking certificates for OPC UA servers on a global scale.
Finally, Microsoft is announcing the expansion of Azure IP Advantage benefits to Azure customers with IoT devices connected to Azure, as well as devices that are powered by Azure Sphere and Windows IoT.
First announced in February 2017, the Azure IP Advantage program provides protection against intellectual property (IP) risks for cloud customers. Now, the program is available for customers who are innovating in IoT and at the edge, helping them do predictive maintenance, manage digital and physical assets, and improve overall efficiency, safety and quality of products.
New Azure IP Advantage program benefits focused on the Azure-powered IoT ecosystem and start-ups, include uncapped indemnification coverage for Microsoft’s Azure Sphere and Windows IoT, access to 10,000 patents for customers using Azure to power IoT devices to defend themselves against IP lawsuits, and the ability for start-ups on Azure to acquire Microsoft patents for free.
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