Our connected world: Why trustworthy and reliable weather data matters

Weather data is essential for critical functions in society. As a leader in weather, environmental, and industrial measurement technologies, our customers count on us to ensure reliable and trustworthy data. Product and software security is the foundation of the data we enable for our connected world. 

“As a global market leader in weather, environmental, and industrial measurements,
we see that the requirements for accurate and reliable data will only increase,
serving as a source for new growth and innovation opportunities.”
Vaisala’s Annual Report 2020 

Vaisala edge gateways and new sensor devices have built-in security based on industry-leading best practices and mainstream technologies, ideally suiting them for emerging use cases such as smart cities, transport systems, and timely weather nowcasting. 

IoT security based on industry-leading best practices 

Our goal is to develop “secure by design” Internet of Things (IoT) solutions to protect the devices and data from unauthorized usage, manipulation, and control. This is achieved by leveraging features such as: 

• Verification of the integrity of the device firmware by using a secure boot mechanism 
• Strong and unique initial device identities for IoT devices to ensure they are legitimate, allowing them to connect securely to different cloud services and other IoT devices
• Ensuring the trustworthiness of firmware updates for in-market devices by signing and encrypting the device firmware
• Securing the communication between the IoT device sensors, gateways, and the device management platform in all deployments

Securing our IoT devices with the LAAVAT solution

We are working closely with LAAVAT, a leading IoT security technology provider, to deliver key security capabilities in our edge gateways and sensors. The solution for IoT security integrates seamlessly into our existing IT, manufacturing, and device management systems. It enables the following features that are central to our manufacturing and supply chain security.

• Cryptographic key management 
  Safe and secure key management ensures the effective use of cryptography for operations such as digital signing and encryption. This is vital for enabling secure boot in IoT devices.
• Secure device manufacturing 
  IoT devices during manufacturing are protected through the secure delivery and programming of cryptographic keys and the issuance of unique initial device identities. These can prevent malicious activities such as the creation of cloned and counterfeit products.
• Secure firmware updates
  Digital signing and packaging of software releases are handled by a scalable and easily maintainable solution that supports IoT products based on multiple hardware platforms. This ensures that the device firmware updates always come from a trusted source. Encryption of firmware images ensures protection of Vaisala intellectual property in the IoT device software.
• Secure IoT device management 
  Usage of Public Key infrastructure-based solutions enables secure device management based on mutual authentication and encrypted communication.

Vaisala has a proven track record of product leadership in the weather, environmental, and industrial measurement domain. As we move to an even more connected world, we are utilizing the most advanced IoT security technology to provide secure and reliable edge gateways and sensors that our customers can trust. 

Download our eBook, Weather stations and network susceptibility: Keeping people safe and data secure, to learn more about the benefits of weather observation network safety.