Description:
Reference #: 01534
The University of South Carolina is offering licensing opportunities for Highly Usable and Secure Pairing for IoT Devices
Background:
After you purchase a new IoT device, it is painful to connect it to your home WiFi or pair it with your smartphone. Very often, the process can be hacked by your neighbor or a remote attacker, as the new device may get paired with the attacker or you leak your home WiFi password to the attacker. It is either a burden for IoT manufacturers, as they have to assign a unique pairing password for each IoT device’s firmware and print it correctly on the manual; or it can become a serious security vulnerability if a uniform password is used for all devices.
Invention Description:
With this innovation, a user holding a smartphone or wearing a smartwatch can finish secure paring by simply pressing the IoT device's button, twisting its knob, or swiping its touchscreen. No pairing passwords are needed.
Potential Applications:
The total installed base of Internet of Things (IoT) connected devices worldwide is projected to amount to 30.9 billion units by 2025, a sharp jump from the 13.8 billion units that are expected in 2021. This innovation can improve the usability and security for almost all the IoT device pairings.
Advantages and Benefits:
As described above, the innovation can significantly improve the usability and security of IoT pairing.