Cybersecurity firms DigiCert, Gemalto and ISARA partner to secure IoT devices

DigiCert, which provides certificate-based encryption, has partnered with digital security firm Gemalto and quantum-safe solutions provider ISARA Corp to develop quantum-safe digital certificates and secure key management for connected devices, commonly referred to as the Internet of Things (IoT).

“DigiCert, Gemalto and ISARA are collaborating today to solve tomorrow’s problem of defending connected devices and their networks against the new security threats that the implementation of quantum computers will unleash,” says Deepika Chauhan, executive vice president of emerging markets at DigiCert. 

“The work we’re doing now will ensure that the connected systems that serve as the brains of automobiles, industrial control systems, medical devices, nuclear power plants and other critical infrastructure are safe from those threats in five, 10 and 20 years,” she added.

According to the three firms, the partnership will provide enterprise security teams with significant advantages to secure their connected devices with lengthy product lifetimes.

Organisations can deploy these solutions at any scale, given that DigiCert is already capable of issuing and reliably hosting billions of digital certificates for public trust and private-public key infrastructure systems, the firms said in a joint statement. 

Certificates obtained through this partnership, according to the firms, will be enabled with quantum-safe cryptography, which will have the full capability of deploying on-premise and hybrid solutions.

“Experts estimate that the dawn of large-scale quantum computing will arrive in the next eight to 10 years, bringing with it the moment when all current public key cryptography can no longer be trusted,” says Scott Totzke, chief executive and co-founder of ISARA.

“The work we’re doing today ensures that a fundamental element of the security stack, root certificates, is secure by embedding quantum-safe cryptography. This means that IoT manufacturers and other large organisations will have the solutions and tools they need to prepare for the quantum threat well in advance of that date, keeping confidential information and high-value assets safe,” he explained.

Todd Moore, senior vice president for encryption products at Gemalto, said that the partnership with DigiCert and ISARA will help organisations build secure and future-proof cryptographic operations that can guard against the potential security threats of quantum computing and ensure a more secure world for connected automobiles, devices, machines, smart cities and mission-critical infrastructure.