How Vodafone is Ensuring its IoT Connections are Secure
DIGITAL HEALTH
How Vodafone is Ensuring its IoT Connections are Secure
Although having many devices connected to the internet may pose a security challenge , Brenneis explains that this isn ' t a major issue for Vodafone customers . He uses the example of a monitoring device by the bedside . " You have three components : the physical device itself , the communication network , and the application running on a computer in a data centre .
" The computer and the data centre will have standard IT security mechanisms , regardless of whether it is connected to IoT or not . Our IoT SIM cards do not have phone numbers , so they are set up to only be connected to a specific data centre , and they have authentication mechanisms built-in . Only the person who knows the key to that SIM card can access it . Any other request will immediately be rejected .
" Secondly , for each IoT connection , we built a private VPN tunnel so nobody can intercept the data . We proactively monitor all these tunnels with real people in our secure operation centres , so whenever we see something strange like data packets lost , we have diagnosis mechanisms , and we check and counteract . It ' s a closed system with built-in encryption and authentication mechanisms between the SIM card on the device and the system . We haven ' t had any successful hacks on our 120 million connections ."
" People can also register to be vaccinated via the platform and are directed automatically by the system to their vaccination site . They also get an electronic passport from the platform , which ensures they have records showing they ' ve been adequately vaccinated . If they need a second vaccine , it reminds them and directs them to the next site , which could be different to the first location if that ' s where the vaccines are now available .", Brenneis adds .
Brenneis says Vodafone is proudly playing its part in ensuring an equitable distribution of vaccines worldwide . " In Africa , we see
76 June 2021