IOT and New Era of Edge processing-
How Secure is it?
by
Samiha Ashrafi
Student Id: 2311410047
Section: 10
Course: MIS 107
Course Instructor: Yasir Arefin (YAR)
Introduction:
With the wheel of time, technological advancement has made it possible to blur the fine line
between imagination and reality; completely transforming lifestyle through Internet of Things
(IoT) with the privilege of seamless synchronization where devices can interlink, communicate
and make autonomous decisions. However, with great perks, comes its fair share of practical
limitations regarding the process and analysis of large volume of data generated by IoT devices.
The exponential growth of IoT implementations are surpassing the traditional cloud computing
architecture, leading to latency issues, bandwidth constraints and privacy concerns.
This drawback has led us to shift to more efficient alternative that is, the edge processing- a
drastic shift; with the game changing strategy that brings computation and data storage closer
to the source of data generation by anchoring edge devices such as gateways, routers and
sensors- enabling organizations to process and analyze data at the point of collection; reducing
latency, conserving bandwidth and enhancing data privacy.
This report will reflect upon the multifaceted realm of IoT and will explore the influence of edge
processing in the new era of innovation and opportunity and the privacy concerns associated
with it.
Let’s have a brief look at the characteristics of edge processing and the how compatible it is
with the security protocols.
The goal of edge computing security is to prevent unauthorized access to data stored or sent by
devices located beyond central data centers. Due to the rapid proliferation of Internet of Things
(IoT) devices, mobile devices, and diverse network access points, the numbers of security
concerns have grown exponentially. Therefore, to safeguard users and their sensitive data at
the most remote or farthest parts of a company's network, sometimes known as the "edge",
edge security measures were established.
· Every network structure fundamentally relies on a data center. This data center could be
located on-site, within a corporate building, or in an archive of publicly accessible resources
hosted in the cloud.
· In simple terms, edge computing refers to computational processes that occur at the
periphery of a network. Because the cloud or data center serves as the foundation of the
network, establishments such as retail shops, branch offices, and larger corporate campuses
may be deemed to be functioning at the network's edge with core station deployments
integrating powerful computing capabilities, 5G cellular is also considered edge computing
(What Is Edge Security, 2021).1
·Edge computing reduces the latency and bandwidth problems that plague today's Internet,
opening the door to new types of applications by significantly reducing network hops and the
distance between devices and the cloud that the devices are connected with. Furthermore,
Edge security includes several factors, such as ensuring a secure access to edge computing
resources using encrypted tunnels, firewalls, and access control systems. Edge computing
devices should also be secured beyond the network layer.1
Since Edge computing is not centralized by design, it is very important for service providers to
use proactive threat monitoring technologies that can find any possible breach as soon as
possible.
Furthermore, any repair work must be automated to keep devices up to date and lower the
risk of surface attacks by staying up to date with all known and unknown vulnerabilities.
Advantages of edge processing:
Processing data at the edge may drastically cut down on or eliminate length of data transfer. As
a result, systems that need a quick response may analyze more complicated data, which leads
to a steep rise in their use.
Potentially lowering system costs for IoT applications is one of the main advantages of edge
computing. It is possible to reduce the amount of data transmitted to data centers and the
cloud for further computing by bringing data processing closer to the edge, or where the data is
created. As a result, the cloud will have less data to process, which will lower the operational
costs of the system.2
Edge Data processing is seeing a surge in the use of AI. The traditional method involves sending
data to a cloud service, where it is analyzed using AI models, and then used to draw specific
conclusions for the user. Unfortunately, for jobs that can't wait for a response, data speed
constraints are a major obstacle. To solve that issue, the data sets were shrunk by reducing
picture sizes, skipping frames in videos, and decreasing sample rates in audio. However, this
process degrades the accuracy of AI models, which in turn makes the findings less reliable.
By relocating AI models to the edge, where they will have access to all data and be able to
respond more quickly and accurately, we may overcome these issues. Some notable instances
of these advancements are facial and voice recognition that occurs immediately on the user's
smartphone, without the data ever leaving the device. Moreover, many companies already
have AI-centric edge computing hardware available.
Data sovereignty is an additional major advantage of edge computing. The idea of data
sovereignty states that whatever data is kept or processed in a certain nation or territory is
governed by the laws of that country or region. As a result, with edge computing, data can be
processed and stored locally, giving companies more control over their data and making sure it
complies with local standards and regulations. 2
IoT security in a nutshell:
Edge computing is a very a new approach to ‘distributed computing’ that uses the network's
periphery. So, how does edge computing work in practice? Edge computing, in its most basic
definition, is the process of handling and analyzing data in close proximity to its point of
generation (as in autonomous cars, for instance). Now, both data processing and analysis takes
place closer to the source of the data, either on the device or a local server, rather than having
all of your devices and apps connect to a central server. Moreover, Edge Computing is
sometimes the only option for handling very large amounts of data in many use situations.
Thus, by using edge computing and the internet of things (IoT), we can reduce reaction time,
free up cloud storage, and better manage the massive amounts of data without relying on cloud
processing. For example, let's use smart self- driven vehicles (smart car) as an example, to
further explain: Think about a high-tech gadget installed in the vehicle that does all the
computations required for autonomous driving. In order to save a tremendous amount of data,
the automobile processes this information locally instead of sending it to the cloud and waiting
for a response. This data transfer would be immense, requiring 1 terabyte of data each minute.
By using edge computing, smart cars may handle data more efficiently by only communicating
with backend systems when absolutely essential, instead of constantly streaming data. This
method improves the vehicle's performance while cutting down on data use.3
Edge computing is sometimes the only solution for dealing with very large amounts of data in
many use situations. Edge computing and the Internet of Things (IoT) revolve on the idea of
removing data processing from the cloud, which has many benefits, including faster response
times, less storage requirements, and better management of massive amounts of data.
Security Issues in Edge Computing and the IoT:
Even though edge data processing can solve a lot of issues related to data traffic in an IoT
network, it can also result in some vulnerability. Since edge processing results in many access
points, it can create a larger field of network vulnerability to malicious attacks. For example due
to user’s inability to change default passwords, attackers can easily gain access to accounts in
the event of any data breach.
Reference:
1
What is Edge Security? (2024b, April 15). Forcepoint. https://www.forcepoint.com/cyber-
edu/edge-security
2
Security issues in edge computing and the IoT | Infosec. (n.d.).
https://www.infosecinstitute.com/resources/iot-security/security-issues-in-edge-computing-
and-the-iot/
3
Fedoriuk, Y. (2024, January 31). IoT and Edge Computing: Two Sides of the Same Coin?
Indeema Software. https://indeema.com/blog/edge-computing-and-iot--what-s-the-difference
4
Certified, P., & Certified, P. (2022, July 27). IoT Security for edge Devices | PSA certified. PSA
Certified - Created to Improve the Security and Trust of Internet of Things Devices and Their
Data. https://www.psacertified.org/blog/iot-security-for-edge-devices/
