IoT Editor's Day Silicon Valley: Lynx Software Says Gateways are Security Key

Operational Technology, or OT, is getting to be a hot topic here in the IoT and as we move into 2016, it’s only going to be gaining ground. So much so, that one of our IoT Evolution Expo Keynoters, Cisco’s John Oberon, VP IoT Software Platforms, will be addressing the meeting points of TO, IT and IoT at length in his speech.

One company looking to define this meeting is Lynx Software. “The OT networks are now meeting the IT networks in the IoT,” said Robert Day, VP, Marketing at Lynx when we spoke recently. “They meet at a gateway, and it’s not secure [today], if you can isolate the two networks, you don’t need to worry about the individual devices.”

We sat down with him at IoT Evolution Editor’s Day in Silicon Valley, where we met with many of the Left Coast’s biggest brains in the IoT. (Editor’s note: We plan to do another one of these on the east coast sometime soon, but the next time to get face to face with me will be at the IoT Evolution Expo, January 25 to 28 in Ft. Lauderdale. See you in the sand.)

Day told us that the security of the IoT hinges on the gateways, not the devices. If there’s an attack or infection, as long as it can be isolated on one side of the gateway, it can be contained.

“The big guys are trying to secure the IoT like they do IT, but it’s not the same thing,” Day said. “IoT is too diverse.”

Lynx thinks this diversity is a strength of the IoT, but it offers a possible vulnerability, unless the gateways are secure.

So, let’s secure them.