Data Security Companies Collaborating on Authentication, Encryption for Wearables
Kaspersky Lab and WISeKey are jointly developing technology to safeguard financial data exchanged via wearables, the companies said Thursday. The technology will integrate authentication and data encryption into wearables, allowing them to “safely connect, communicate and exchange financial data,” they…
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said. The market for wearables is growing at a 35 percent annual rate, they said, citing Tractica, but many connected devices and the data they exchange are “worryingly unprotected." Security will become more critical as wearables are increasingly used to make payments, they said. Bulgari currently integrates WISeKey’s security software, Wis.Watch, into its smartwatches, enabling a user to securely identify and authenticate a device and connect it to a smartphone to access apps, personal data and cloud storage, said the companies. Under the partnership, Kaspersky Lab’s secure software development kit for mobile devices will be included, adding a layer of security that will lead to “ultra-secure” mobile payments, said the companies, who called the cooperation between them a “breakthrough in IoT cyber-security.” Kaspersky CEO Eugene Kaspersky said millions of devices in use today “were never designed to be secure” and there’s an “urgent need to establish and implement higher levels of security for IoT devices.” The collaboration will be based on WISeKey’s NFCTrusted technology and its Cryptographic Root of Trust for IoT that’s been installed on more 2.6 billion desktop, browsers, mobile devices, SSL certificates and connected devices, said the companies. Existing wearables can be retrofitted with the Kaspersky security layer by adding asymmetric identification at the device level, a WISeKey spokesman told us. The technology will be applicable to other IoT sectors, said WISeKey CEO Carlos Moreira.