Blockchain Tech Promises Better Security for IoT

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A new blockchain-based method for enhancing IoT devices security may be under development. IBM has won a patent for the autonomous self-servicing of networked devices that form part of its Autonomous Decentralized Peer-to-Peer Telemetry (ADEPT) environment. The system uses a blockchain protocol as a basis for a distributed network of devices — what Samsung has called “a sort of decentralized Internet of Things (IoT).”

The patent, first filed in late June 2016, was awarded by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

The proof-of-concept (PoC) for ADEPT was first exposed in partnership with Samsung in March 2016. Suggesting that a decentralized architecture can offer improved cost and operational efficiency, IBM explained that “IoT controllers are often centralized […] [with] different IoT solution vendors [providing] proprietary solutions that follow similar centralized architectures.”

According to IBM, self-servicing devices can further boost the improved efficiency of a decentralized system, as they can diagnose and automate the solution for a range of situations such as “self-diagnosis, predict[ing] equipment failure and anticipat[ing] service needs.”

IBM has been steadily diversifying its involvement in blockchain across multiple fields, including a new blockchain-related patent filed by IBM that would harness the technology to tackle privacy and security concerns for drones.