Internet of Everything Overview

Internet of Everything (IoE)

• IoE connects operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT) systems.
• OT systems handle industrial control and automation.
• OT hardware includes sensors and end devices. Software controls and monitors manufacturing equipment and processes.
• Most OT communication is machine-to-machine (M2M).

Information Technology (IT)

• IT systems consist of network infrastructure, telecommunications, and software applications.
• IT systems process and exchange information between people.

Converging OT and IT

• Simplifying Infrastructure (Simple): Seamlessly combining IT and OT reduces operational costs and increases process efficiency.
• Creating Intelligence and Agility (Smart): Uses analytics from application-centric technologies to improve application performance, generating new service information from the infrastructure.
• Delivering End-to-End Security (Secure): The combined infrastructure defends against attacks and dynamically responds to threats.

M2M (Machine-to-Machine) Connections

• Products with embedded M2M capabilities are often considered "smart products."
• Currently, M2M lacks a standardized device platform.
• Devices use proprietary protocols, limiting cross-platform communication.

M2P (Machine-to-Person) Connections

• M2P allows people to send and receive information from technical systems.
• M2P, M2M, and P2P connections are transactional, moving information in both directions (machines to people and vice versa).

P2P (Person-to-Person) Connections

• P2P connections rely on collaborative solutions, leveraging existing and new network infrastructure, devices, and applications.
• P2P applications manage meeting rooms and resources.
• P2P supports online collaboration via web and video conferencing.

M2M, M2P, P2P Interaction

• Provides organizations and individuals with actionable insights and seamless automation.
• Linking all aspects of the supply chain as IT and OT converge.
• Companies gain immediate visibility into the entire product cycle, from customer interest to post-purchase feedback.

Preparing for IoE Transition

• Understanding existing business processes: Identifying suppliers, customers, customer needs, creation/delivery schedules of offerings.
• Understanding existing IT and OT networks: Analyzing user interaction with network resources, identifying components and capabilities, including data storage and security needs, how current OT systems operate, how M2M connections work and how information is integrated into existing business processes. Identifying proprietary protocol needs.
• Business goals and opportunities: Determining cost and return on investment (ROI) as a result of IoE implementation and improvements; identifying growth opportunities and improved competitive advantages.
• Determining technical requirements: involves standardization, data processing, access, equipment, programming, network management, security, and network scalability.

Potential Constraints

• Budget limitations
• Existing legacy systems
• Cultural challenges
• Policies
• Lack of technical expertise

IoE Architectural Approach

• Three functional layers: application, platform, and infrastructure.
• Reflects cloud computing service models (SaaS, PaaS, IaaS).

Application Layer

• Automated, dynamic, application-centric responses to changing traffic/usage demands.
• Provides intelligence to improve user experiences.
• Integrates traditional IT applications and industry-specific applications.

Platform Layer

• Orchestrates, manages, and adjusts policies based on changing demands.
• Enables faster service delivery.
• Provides applications and users access to needed resources without IT manual configuration changes.
• Improves business agility through new services and analytical applications.

Infrastructure Layer

• Integrates power, security, core networks, physical/virtual resources, and storage.
• Balances hardware and software across enterprises, clouds, and service providers.
• Connects OT and IT connections to IP and Cloud computing/mobile connectivity.

Adjusting Technologies

• Standard Infrastructure: Establishes and implements standardized protocols in end-to-end IP environments, reducing legacy system costs, allowing cross-department collaboration and faster delivery/management of information/security.
• Responsive Software: Enables infrastructure adaptation to changing traffic demands and conditions through application-centric technologies, without security or availability compromises. Determines which information and data to virtualize via the cloud and which to keep in the fog.
• Holistic Security: Secures the entire network infrastructure (end-to-end) using monitoring technologies to detect, mitigate threats, and ensure confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data.

IoE Examples

• Retail and manufacturing
• Customer experience
• Innovation
• Employee productivity
• Asset utilization
• Supply chain
• Public sector
• Increase revenue
• Reduced costs
• Employee productivity
• Citizen experience/defense
• Service Providers
• Enterprise optimization
• Services differentiation
• Growth opportunities

Proprietary Ecosystems

• OT networks often use proprietary protocols that may be insecure.

Technological Growth

• Moore's Law: Transistor counts on integrated circuits double approximately every two years, increasing processing capacity.
• Metcalfe's Law: The value of a network is proportional to the square of the number of users connected to it.
• Reed's Law: The value of a network grows exponentially as more potential two-person, three-person groups, and so on, are formed.

Security

• Larger, integrated IoE solutions become more decentralized, introducing more access points and vulnerabilities.
• Many IoE devices transmit data from insecure locations.

Adoptable and Real-time Security

• Deploy adaptable, real-time security as businesses grow, adjusting levels to minimize risk.

Secure and Dynamic Connections

• Ensures the right security level is in place for all connections at all times, helping meet regulatory and privacy compliance.
• Protects all assets, including intellectual property, data, employees, and buildings.

Protecting Customer & Brand Trust

• Minimizes impact/costs of security breaches with a seamless security strategy.
• Security breaches damage customer confidence and brand integrity.
• Security strategy must detect, confirm, mitigate, and remedy threats across the entire organization.

Pervasive Security

• Security must be pervasive in IoE systems across organizations and secure boundaries.
• Enforces consistency, automation, and dynamic security threat recognition with real-time predictive analytics.
• Provides visibility across all connections and infrastructure elements.
• Allows scalability to accommodate growth, real-time responsiveness, and end-to-end coverage.

Security Architecture

• Securing individual IoE devices is insufficient; a truly secure IoE needs an end-to-end solution.
• Includes access control, context-aware policies and inspection/enforcement, and network and global intelligence.

Access Control

• Policy-based access for users and devices on the distributed network.
• Users are authenticated and authorized, including end devices.
• Non-authenticating devices (printers, cameras, etc.) are identified/inventoried.

Context-Aware Policies

• Uses simplified descriptive business language defining security policies based on the situation's context.
• Align with business policies and are simple to administer.
• Improve security and help meet compliance objectives.

Context-Aware Inspection and Enforcement

• Uses network and global intelligence to make security enforcement decisions.
• Offers flexible deployment options (integrated services, standalone devices, Cloud-based services).

Network and Global Intelligence

• Correlates global data to identify malicious activity within environments.
• Provides deep network activity insights and accurate protection and policy enforcement.

Cisco Security Architecture (Diagram)

• Shows a hierarchical view with layers for management, platform, infrastructure with devices, APIs, and related functions.

Security Devices

• Firewalls analyze network traffic to determine allowed traffic.
• Intrusion Prevention Systems monitor network activities, identifying and attempting to prevent malicious activity.

Wireless Security

• Wireless networks are more vulnerable due to more access points.
• Implement strong authentication protocols, administrative security, encryption, default settings changes, and firmware updates.
• Many IoE devices may not support wireless security functionality, and these connections must still pass through security devices.

Security and People

• Malicious intent and security mistakes can put equipment and data at risk.
• Security policies and regulations define user behavior, acceptable actions, and data access methods.

Security Policy

• Defines rules, regulations, and procedures.
• Is divided into areas to address specific risks.
• User education is an important part of the policy.

Personal Data and IoE

• Organizations collect personal data, creating a struggle between access and privacy.
• Data is enhanced with metadata, which makes it "exchangeable property".
• Auditable data helps enforce privacy policies and regulations.

Categories of Personal Data

• Volunteered data (social media profiles)
• Observed data (location data)
• Inferred data (credit scores)